Chronicles of Zulu
by goldmonk
Summary: This story follows the journey of a Delta Force team known as Zulu Team as they fight during the beginning of World War IV and watch as it escalates. It is an original story with large elements of Halo. I hope you enjoy it. There is more to come. Also, I love feedback so please leave a review.
1. Paris Falling

Book 1-Zulu

Chapter 1-Paris Falling

The year was 2554, 19th of April. Almost four years since World War IV had started. The Russians had become power hungry. The Russian Prime Minister had formed a communist state which included China, North Korea, Cuba, and most of Africa. In order to combat this newly forming state, the UN decided to reform as the World Alliance. The war started when Russian forces invaded Kazakhstan. At the head of the Alliance was Kevin Johnson, former president of the United States of America. When the Russians launched their offensive, he called for immediate action from the other heads of the Alliance. Our story begins with a four man Delta Force team known as Zulu Team. Along with elements of the 1st and the 4th Infantry Divisions, the Combined TF of U.S. and France tried to retake Paris and the outskirts from the Russians. The fighting was brutal, but the Americans had made a good push, until the bombs dropped.

After the initial bombings, a member of Zulu decided to survey the damage. He stood atop the rubble of the recently bombed city. Paris had been destroyed in a show of power by the Russians. After almost two weeks of fighting, the stalemate between the American and French forces and the Russians appeared to be coming to an end. This soldier stood looking at a space in the horizon, a space where the Eiffel Tower once stood.

"Hey Mutt!" cried a voice from behind the soldier. The soldier turned around to find another soldier standing at the base of the rubble. Behind both of them was the scene of soldiers preparing for an attack.

"What?" asked Mutt.

"Captain Henderson needs us back at HQ ASAP. Intel suggests a whole Russian division preparing to attack."

"I'll be there soon, Shadow"

Mutt began to head down the pile of rubble toward the TF Charlie Headquarters, which had been set up almost 3 miles from the frontline. Most of the soldiers didn't know what happened since the bombing took out the main lines. He glanced around at several soldiers carrying wounded and dead comrades. Suddenly he heard another familiar voice.

"Wait up, Mutt." said Bear in his deep voice.

Mutt turned around to find the other two members of Zulu, Bear and Ute. Bear carried his M247 casually in his right hand. He wore the EVA armor variant, which at the moment was battered. Ute had shouldered his DMR, which was the standard issued Army weapon. Ute had decided to stay with this weapon instead of choosing another weapon like the other members of Zulu. He bore the CQC armor. Mutt rested his S99 on his shoulders.

"You look pretty beat up, bro." Mutt stated.

"You don't have much room to talk." Ute said.

Mutt had already sustained several burns and marks on his Scout armor, including a large crack on his chest plate from the concussion from a bomb which landed close to Mutt's position.

"So what do you think Henderson wants with us?" Bear questioned.

Ute answered "Apparently two Spetz operatives were spotted by a recon team. They identified one as Natalia, they didn't know the second"

Bear laughed at the news "Hear that, Mutt. Looks like you have competition finally."

Zulu was all too familiar with Natalia, especially Mutt. She was a deadly sniper who started off as a paid assassin. The Communists offered her a clean record for her service. Her first encounter with Zulu was in Johannesburg. Zulu's mission was to assassinate the Prime Minister before he could convince the South African President to join the Communists. She and Mutt had a 10 hour "staring contest" with each other, ending when Natalia's position was destroyed by an American Hornet. There was no trace of her until a patrol came across the bodies of two soldiers hung from a bridge with her calling card, a kiss on the right cheek. Mutt was not looking forward to another encounter with her, but for some reason Bear seemed to enjoy the news. When the group reached HQ, they found it had received just as much damage as the frontlines. Medics had setup a temporary aid station in a store which had surprisingly no damage, except for the fact it had no windows, to treat the critical. The rest of Zulu found Shadow with Captain Henderson standing over a holographic map displaying the frontlines. Shadow had sustained heavy damage to his Commando armor, including blood stains. Whether the blood was his or not was unknown to his comrades. Henderson glanced over at the team.

"We have bad news" said Henderson

"Yeah, we heard that bitch Natalia joined the party." answered Ute.

Shadow replied quickly "Along with Bull. Remember him from Rio, Bear?"

"Sure do"

"Well, a recon team spotted them about four miles from the front. They also have a division in the back for reinforcements."

"Any plans for defense?" Mutt asked

Henderson responded "What you see is all we have. Hopefully the 2nd Marines might land within the next few days."

"So what's the plan for Zulu?" asked Shadow

"Command wants you to deal with both Spetz. We can barely handle the regular Russian Army, last thing we need are enemy operatives running around."

"How are we gonna attack this, Shadow?" wondered Ute.

"Best option would be to flank, I believe"

Bear retorted quickly "If they don't flank us first."

"That's why we are moving now. So restock now if you need to. Supplies are over there." Shadow pointed to another tent around thirty yards from where they were standing. "Once you've done that meet back at Square Leon."

Bear nudged Ute "You ready?"

"Might as well be. Let's go, Mutt."

The team headed toward the supply station, when an ominous whistle was heard. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked around until a soldier screamed.

"INCOMING!"

Soldiers began run in all directions looking for the best cover they could, even if it was only a small crater. Zulu ran to the crate and got ammo as fast as they could. Finished, they took off toward their objective, doing their best to avoid the hail of artillery shells.

"Get off the street!" yelled Shadow as he opened the door to a store. The team on his command ran in. "Find a back door."

"On it, boss" replied Bear

"What the fuck just happened?" asked Ute in an exhausted voice.

"We'll worry about that after Bull and Natalia are dealt with." Suddenly, another whistle was heard. But this one was louder than the others.

"That does not sound good." commented Mutt

"Move!" screamed Shadow. But it was too late. As soon as the shell hit the store, everything went dark.


	2. Brothers

Chapter 2- Brothers

Zulu's Location- Mogadishu, Somalia, three year before Paris

Mutt suddenly felt a jolt. He woke up with a startle, looking around to get his surroundings. He found himself beside Bear on a Hornet.

"Wake up, Mutt. We're almost to the objective." said Bear.

Mutt reached back and grabbed his rifle and slapped a new magazine in. Mogadishu had fallen to the Communists at the beginning of the war and pirates were paid to attack Alliance ships, while giving Communist ships safe passage.

"So where are we meeting 'Irish' Team?" asked Ute

"We're meeting them at the National Theatre. It's around two miles from our LZ." answered Shadow

The Hornet landed on a makeshift soccer field, all four operatives jumped off and took positions. Shadow signaled to the pilot and the Hornet lifted off.

"Let's move." said Shadow

The team moved down an alley toward the theatre where they would meet with another Delta team, "Irish Team". Their objective was to kill or capture a local pirate lord named Abdi Jukomb. Jukomb had become good friends with the Russian Prime Minister and his clan was famous for the hijacking of the cargo ship Maiden of the Sea. The Russians had supplied them with modern weaponry, making them more of a threat than other clans. A call came over the radio.

"You guys landed yet?"

"We have, Knight. We will meet you in 30 minutes." Shadow responded

"Sounds good, we'll be waiting." Knight was the leader of "Irish".

"Keep your eyes open." ordered Shadow

Ute aimed his DMR at the rooftops while the team moved down the alleyway.

"I'll cover our six." said Bear as he brought his M247 to his hip

"We are gonna hit a busy street soon, so watch for civvies."

In an instant, a pop was heard. Reacting quickly, Shadow aimed his rifle in the direction of the noise. He found the noise coming from a child firing a cap gun. The child was startled at the sight of the gun aimed at him and dropped his toy gun. Shadow lowered his rifle and picked the toy off the ground. He slowly handed it to the child, who took it and sprinted down another alley. Shadow turned to the team.

"Do I really look that scary?"

Ute began to laugh. "You pointed a fucking gun at him, LT."

Bear chipped in "Also, you have armor on. You look like a monster."

"You look like a monster without the armor, asshole." Shadow responded.

Bear laughed at Shadow's insult, but was cut off by the sounds of nearby gunfire and screams. The team listened to the bursts. "Knight, you hear that?" asked Shadow

Knight answered over the radio "Yeah, Jukomb's men are having it out with a bunch of locals. Oh boy, the locals are outgunned."

"What do you mean?" asked Shadow

"QBZ's going up against AK's, it's not a fair fight." A single gunshot was heard. "Shit! They're executing the locals." responded Knight

"Can you engage?" asked Shadow

"I can't" said Knight

Another voice was heard of the radio. "This is Flash. I have a clear shot at the pirates." Flash was the sniper of "Irish". A second gunshot rang out. After a few seconds, a shot from a S99 was heard.

"Okay, they're scattering. Good shot Flash." Knight said.

"We are about fifteen minutes away, Knight"

"That sounds good to me, Shadow. See you in a few."

'Zulu' continued to a large road where the recent fighting had occurred. Civilians were dragging the bodies of the dead and wounded off the street. They scattered at the sight of the Delta operatives.

"Keep your eyes open" said Shadow.

The team continued down the road, passing over a few bodies. When Shadow reached a pirate's body, he reached down to examine it. The man had on basic Russian body armor. "He's wearing outdated armor, it's nothing special."

Ute picked up the pirate's weapon "QBZ-175, the Russians use it for training."

"You guys got incoming." warned Flash over the radio.

Shadow took command "Find cover."

The team found the nearest cover and hunkered down as yelling was heard. Suddenly, a 5.56 round zipped over Ute's head. More rounds began hitting the environment.

"Smoke 'em!" yelled Shadow. The team fired their DMR's into the enemy crowd. Instantly, 3 assailants dropped dead. The crowd scattered but continued to fire. A grenade landed next to Bear.

"Oh fuck!" yelled Bear as he jumped up and ran to an archway. The grenade went off destroying the concrete barrier Bear was behind. The team continued to fire as Bear grabbed his MG and aimed it at the wall where several pirates were. The bullets ripped through the wall, killing almost everything behind it. The pirates began to retreat, but they had left a wounded man. Shadow walked up to the pirate who had been shot in the gut by one of Bear's bullets. As Shadow approached him, the pirate went for his pistol. Quickly, Shadow aimed and fired a round into the enemy's head.

"Son of a bitch, he almost had me. I'm losing it." said Shadow to the team.

Knight broke the radio silence. "You guys need to hurry up. If Jukomb heard those shots, he's gonna get ready for us and that means we lose our window."

"On our way." responded Shadow as the team kept moving toward the rendezvous point. The team was about a mile from the point, but there was still some resistance. Finally, the team reached the theatre. Three members of 'Irish' were waiting for them, only missing "Flash". "Knight" wore Air Assault armor variant and had the DMR as his weapon of choice. "Ant", the engineer of 'Irish', wore EOD armor and carried the MA37. He was standing behind "Knight" and talking to 'Irish's heavy gunner, "Rook". He held is M247 in both hands and wore the JFO armor.

"Glad you could join us, Shadow." said Knight as he held his hand out, which Shadow shook.

"No problem. So where is Jukomb hiding?" asked Shadow.

"He's somewhere in his compound. Flash is meeting us there. He's been scouting the area for ways in." responded Knight.

"Has he found anything?" asked Ute.

Knight looked at Ute and said "Nothing yet. The pirates have the place locked down."

"Good news. Found a vent which we could enter through. No security around it at all." Said Flash over the radio.

"That sounds good, Flash. We're on our way." replied Knight. "Okay, let's move."

The team moved to Flash's position, he wore the Operator armor and carried a S99 similar to Mutt's. Knight knelt beside him.

"Where's the vent?" said Knight.

"Left side, unfortunately a patrol started going by as soon as you got here." said Flash.

"Can't you shoot them?" asked Shadow.

"Notice how I don't have a silencer on my gun. If I shoot, half the country will hear." responded Flash.

"Let's just move. Cover us." said Knight.

The two teams moved around the side to avoid being seen by the pirates. There were several patrols around the compound and snipers on the balconies. There were several air vents around the area, but the patrols went by them constantly, except for one. It was mostly ignored since it served no purpose. Currently, a pirate stood in front of it with his back facing toward the team as they approached behind the compound wall. Knight placed his back to the wall and prepared to boost the others over the wall.

"Ant, you first." commanded Knight. Ant handed Rook his DMR and jumped up. He pulled his head above the wall to survey the area. He found the guard unaware of his presence. He jumped over the wall and landed behind the guard. He pulled out his knife and covered the guard's mouth. He cut the pirate's throat, causing blood to splatter against the wall and for him to choke to death. He placed the body by the wall.

"Clear." Whispered Ant. The rest of the team came over the wall. Shadow was the last to go, so he pulled Knight over the wall as Mutt pulled the grate off of the vent silently. Knight then disposed of the body by throwing it over the wall. The teams began to enter the vent, making soft clanging noises as they moved. Knight pulled up a schematic of the compound on his HUD.

"Which way to Jukomb's room?" asked Ute.

"Take a left up here." responded Knight.

The team followed the order and turned left at the intersection. As they walked, conversations about recent finds and fights were heard.

"Should be right here." said Knight as he pointed at a vent cover.

"Why are there Americans here?!" yelled a man.

A pirate thug responded "I do not know, sir."

"Find them and bring me their heads!" yelled the man.

"That is Jukomb." said Knight.

"Capture him?" asked Rook

"That's what Command wants. We have to find out the weapons dealer connected to him." responded Shadow.

Rook placed his foot on the vent and pushed it off the hinges. It landed on the thug as Rook jumped down and stabbed the pirate in the torso. Jukomb began to reach for his pistol until he turned around to find Bear standing over him. Bear delivered a single punch to the face, which knocked Jukomb out.

"Someone barricade the door." ordered Shadow.

Bear and Mutt grabbed a table and turned it on its side, then pushed it against the door. Rook grabbed a chair and put it behind the table. Knight took the chair behind Jukomb's desk and placed it in the center of the room. Ute and Ant finished barricading the room by locking the windows and closing the curtains. Shadow cut the security camera in the room and picked Jukomb up. He placed him in the chair as Knight pulled out a few zip ties. Knight tied Jukomb down and the team waited for him to wake up. After a few minutes, Jukomb finally woke up and found Knight standing over him. He was startled at the sight.

"Got time to talk? I'm pretty sure you do." said Knight in a menacing tone.

Jukomb panicked "Please, who are you?"

Knight responded "I'm asking the questions. First, who is your weapons supplier?"

"No one does. I swear." said Jukomb nervously as he tried to jerk out of the chair.

Knight began to make a quick beeping noise, making Jukomb panic more.

Knight glared at Jukomb "My bullshit detector went off. Try again."

The pirate lord began to sweat intensely. He looked around the room at the other operatives.

"I have no suppliers. Please, let me go." said Jukomb, who was now hyperventilating.

"I'll make this scumbag talk." growled Shadow as he took out his pistol and put it to Jukomb's head. Jukomb let out a yelp as if something hot had touched him.

"A Russian!" screamed Jukomb.

"Ah, see not too hard, is it? What's his name?" asked Knight. Jukomb remained silent, staring in fear at Knight. Shadow nudged his pistol against Jukomb's head. This made the pirate cringe.

"Alexi. Alexi Bourdik." cried Jukomb.

"Where is he located?" asked Shadow.

"He's everywhere. He never stays in one spot. Please let me go." blurted Jukomb. He looked around the room at the other operatives as if to beg for mercy.

Knight looked at Shadow "I guess that's why it looked like the pirates had multiple sources."

Bear responded "Pretty fucking clever."

"So we're dealing with a nomadic arms dealer?" questioned Shadow.

"I must warn you. Bourdik is extremely psychotic and dangerous." said Jukomb.

"That's nice. We love those kinds of guys." responded Bear.

The operatives began to walk out of the room. Shadow turned to look at Jukomb, who was still tied to the chair and struggling.

"So what do we do with him?" asked Shadow.

"We don't need him. He's a worthless pirate piece of shit." responded Knight.

"Got it." said Shadow. He aimed his pistol at Jukomb, who barely let out a scream as Shadow pulled the trigger sending a bullet through Jukomb's head. His head slumped back as his eyes stared at the ceiling.

"What the fuck was that?" asked Flash over the radio.

"Shadow shot Jukomb." responded Knight.

"Well, he just kicked the hornet's nest. They are entering the building and they are pissed." said Flash. "I'll try and take a few out." Two shots were heard and more screaming. "That's all I can do for now. They have me pinned down."

"Okay guys, we got company. Take positions." commanded Knight.

The operatives took defensive positions around the room. Voices were heard coming up the stairs and getting closer. Suddenly, no voices were heard.

"They are gonna try to kick the door down. I'd love to see them try with that barricade up." whispered Rook. But, a small thunk was heard.

"Is that it?" asked Ute.

"Oh shit! Get down!" yelled Knight. In an instant, the door exploded filling the room with shrapnel. Several of the operatives were knocked of their feet. Ute was the only one to remain in a firing position. He fired into the open doorway and reached over to help Bear up. Shadow sat up and fired his DMR, but was dragged into cover by Mutt. Suddenly, an enemy charged through the doorway wielding a machete. He was making a beeline for Shadow and Mutt, until Knight put his knife into the assailant's stomach. As the pirate fell, Knight got in cover beside Mutt and Shadow.

"Is there another way out?" asked Shadow as Mutt fired from cover. Knight looked behind the three at a window. Shadow quickly responded. "Oh hell no, we are not-!"

He was cut off by Knight "We have armor on. It's not that big of a drop."

"I think it's a bad idea." said Shadow.

"Here, let's use the rookie as a test subject." said Knight as if he was telling a joke.

Mutt turned around. "Wait. What?" But Knight had already grabbed him and tossed him out the window.

"What the fuck?" asked a shocked Shadow. A crash was heard followed by a faint groan of pain.

"You okay Mutt?" asked Knight over the radio.

Mutt groaned a little before responding. "Other than being tossed out a window, I'm fine."

"Told you it would work." said Knight as he looked at Shadow.

"Oh you're such a fucking genius." said Shadow sarcastically.

"New escape route, boys." commanded Knight over the radio. Bear jumped to the cover Knight was behind. He looked at the broken window.

"That's it?" asked Bear. "Oh well. Look out, Mutt." He jumped out of the window. He landed beside Mutt. After Bear recovered, he helped Mutt up onto his feet.

"Ant and Rook, you guys are next." commanded Knight.

"On it." responded Ant quickly. The two ran for the window as bullets flew by them and they jumped out through the windows.

"Ute, your turn." said Knight. Ute ran for the window and jumped.

Bear said over the radio "We're just waiting for you two."

"Flash, we are behind the complex. Find a way to us, we will try to cover you." requested Knight

"I'm moving, boss." said Flash

"We go on three." Knight said. But a grenade landed near the two, both looked at it.

"Fuck that!" yelled Shadow as he grabbed Knight and jumped out of the window as the grenade exploded. The two landed with a crash near the other operatives. All of them stared at the fire shooting from the room.

"We should get moving." said Shadow.

"Agreed." responded the group in unison. They began walking down a dirt road away from the commotion. Knight got on his radio.

"Hawk, you near the extraction zone?" asked Knight.

"I'm on my way." responded Hawk, the engineer of Anchor Team who also acted as a pilot for other teams.

"Meet you in 30." acknowledged Knight.

As the teams moved between the buildings in the alleyways, sounds of feet running were heard above them. Bear and Mutt looked up right at the moment several pirates jumped over the alleyway to the next roof. Bear panicked and almost popped off a round but was stopped by Shadow.

"They don't see us yet. Don't shoot unless you have to." commanded Shadow.

Then a different noise was heard, a DMR.

"Flash, where are you?" asked Knight over his radio.

"I'm on the rooftops!" yelled Flash.

"We are right below you, so meet up with us. Just look down and you'll see us." said Knight. As he said that Flash jumped down into the alleyway.

"What's up?" asked Flash with a chuckle.

"Not much, stuck in a room with a bunch of crazy pirates with Russian weapons." responded Bear.

"That's cute. I've been lying still for 4 hours staring at people who want to kill me." said Flash

Shadow got in-between the two and said, "Quit arguing, we need to get to the extraction zone." The team continued down the alleyway before hearing voices.

"Hold up. I think it's a patrol." commanded Shadow. The team stopped and waited for the patrol to pass. As they did, one pirate stopped and turned away from the team.

"I've got this guy." said Knight as he pulled out his knife. He approached the enemy and grabbed the pirate's mouth to prevent him from screaming. He cut the enemy's throat, letting him bleed out, and then carried him out of sight.

"Let's keep moving" commanded Shadow, as Knight put his knife away. The team moved down the alleyway nearing the airfield. As they got close, two Hornets flew overhead, and then gunfire was heard.

"I got these guys." said Hawk. One of the Hornets turned around, aiming at the direction of gunfire and fired its twin cannons. The gunfire ceased and the Hornets continued to their objectives.

"Keep moving" commanded Knight. The teams finally cleared the alley and arrived at the airfield. Both Hornets had already landed and were waiting. The teams began to get into their respective Hornets. Suddenly a rocket flew by the Hornet "Irish" Team was on.

"Got him!" yelled Bear as he aimed his DMR at the assailant and fired. The pirate dropped as the Hornets take off.

"Ok, next destination: USS Houston." said Hawk as the Hornets flew off.


	3. Dealing With The Threat

Chapter 3: Dealing with the Threat

Both Hornets landed on the flight deck of the USS Houston, which was 15 miles off the coast of Somalia. The teams jumped off the Hornets and walked across the deck. Several soldiers greeted them as they walked.

"We need to let Command know about something new." said Knight.

"I'll relay the message. What is it?" asked one of the soldiers.

"We have found out the supplier who has been providing weapons to the Somalis. It's a Russian named Alexi Bourdik." responded Knight.

"Any other information?" asked the soldier.

"He is very nomadic. That's the reason it looked like the Somalis were getting weapons from several sources" Knight responded.

"That sounds good. I'll give the Command the message." responded the soldier as he walked toward the bridge. The team then headed below deck to get some rest. They ran into Jaguar, the leader of "Sword" Team, on their way down. He wore the Mark V armor variant.

"Hey. I heard you guys took down Jukomb." said Jaguar.

"Yeah. Ran into some trouble with the pirates, but nothing we couldn't handle." responded Knight chuckling

Suddenly, another soldier ran down the hall. He was wearing the CQC armor. He stopped when he reached the group and sounded almost out of breath.

"Jag, you got to come see this." said the soldier with great distress.

"What is it, Viper?" asked Jaguar. Viper was "Sword's" engineer.

Viper looked at the member's of Zulu and Irish "You guys pissed the locals off by killing Jukomb."

"How? We killed Jukomb. I thought that would help." asked Shadow.

"Apparently, Jukomb was the civilians' only protection from the pirates. Now civvies are getting murdered left and right. They are blaming you guys for the murders." responded Viper.

"So are we getting sent in again?" asked Bear.

"I don't think you will. It's too large of a mission for a four man team. Command will probably send in an MEU." said Viper.

"Anyway, come on rest of the team is this way." said Jaguar, walking down the hall.

They walked down the hall and turned into a room to find two Marines and the rest of the Sword in the rec room. Inside were Onyx, Sword's heavy gunner, and Wolf, the sniper. Onyx wore the Grenadier armor, while Wolf wore the Security armor. But Wolf had her helmet beside her, revealing her shoulder length black hair and hazel eyes. As Mutt entered the room, he caught sight of Wolf and stopped. Mutt and Wolf were childhood friends and at one point had a relationship. Wolf looked over at Mutt with curiosity.

"Hello, sweetheart." said Wolf, with her southern accent in an almost loving tone as she shifted in her chair to face Mutt.

"Hi." responded Mutt, who at the moment was almost paralyzed in shock. He did not expect Wolf to be here. "When did you guys get in?"

"Maybe an hour ago, you were still in Mogadishu." added Wolf. "C'mon and have a seat."

Mutt found an open seat and took it. Currently, the news was showing video footage of riots in the streets of Mogadishu, while an anchorwoman was talking about the "tragedy of the events going on."

"Can we at least mute this dumb bitch?" questioned Onyx in his deep, gritty voice. "Or change the channel?"

Wolf chuckled as she grabbed the remote and muted the TV. "What's the matter, Onyx?" she asked.

"Is this the only channel covering Somalia? This talking head doesn't know anything about what's going on." complained Onyx

"Maybe." Responded Wolf with a grin, she then turned her attention to Mutt. "How was resistance in the Mog?"

Mutt took off his helmet revealing short brown hair and blue eyes. "Pirates with Russian weapons, a psychopath for a leader, and now riots." Sounding exasperated.

Wolf chuckled at the response. "At least you were warm. I had to freeze my ass off in Germany defending some diplomat."

Onyx interrupted "Plus, he was a piece of shit. Treated the police like dogs." He then began to talk in an insulting high pitched voice. "Do this, do that, get out of my way, I'm more important." His insult of a diplomat was received with smiles from Wolf and Mutt.

"So I assume you guys were in the background." Asked Mutt

"Yeah, sniper detail." Responded Wolf as she put her feet up on the table. "Oh, I talked to sis the other day."

"Where is Fox?" Mutt questioned

Fox was Wolf's sister; she belonged to Texas Team and was an Engineer. All three had grown up in West Virginia close to each other in the same neighboorhood.

"She's back in West Virginia on leave. She's taking Daniel hunting for the first time tomorrow." Responded Wolf with a smile.

"I knew she would take that little guy hunting someday. His parents were okay with a chick that kills for a living taking their 10 year old son hunting?" Mutt said while laughing.

"Nah, she just grabbed him right out of his bed." Said Wolf sarcastically. A knock was heard at the door, causing Wolf to look up. "Sup, Shadow?" Mutt turned around to face Shadow.

"Hey Wolf. Debrief in five, Mutt. We are meeting on the bridge with Collins." said Shadow.

"Got it, I'll be right behind you." responded Mutt with a nod. Shadow left the doorway as Mutt turned back to Wolf. "So I'll see you after this?" asked Mutt.

Wolf had a smile on her face. "You know it. I'll just be sitting in here torturing Onyx."

Onyx responded in a stern voice "I will tear the TV off the wall if you turn those idiots on again."

Wolf chuckled. "Good luck."

Mutt stood up from his chair, placed it back where he found it, then grabbed his helmet from the table and headed into the hallway. He knew the bridge was about 10 decks above, so he assumed he had quite a climb. Before he could get to the command tower, where the bridge was located, he had to make a journey across the flight deck. When Mutt finally reached the flight deck, he noticed a game of football going on between members of the deck crew. Mutt put his helmet under his left arm and continued to the bridge. Suddenly, Mutt noticed the game had stopped. He looked over to investigate the reason for the sudden stop and came to realize they were looking at him. He knew they saw operatives all the time since the Houston has been an operating base for several Delta teams. It hit him suddenly, they were seeing an operative without its helmet. These men were seeing the human underneath the robotic-like armor. Regulars looked upon operatives as if they could be gods, and suddenly they knew operatives were just as mortal. He gave the men a quick nod, which they returned. As he climbed the stairs to the bridge, Mutt noticed Bear waiting for him at the top. Bear was bald with several small facial scars along with a large scar across his right cheek. Mutt could barely see any emotion in Bear's brown eyes. When Mutt reached the top, Bear gave him a playful slap on the back.

"So you decided to show your face, eh?" Bear grinned. Mutt just laughed and shook his head as he opened the door to find Shadow and Ute standing over a map with General Collins looking out over the flight deck. Shadow had blond hair which he currently had combed over and blue eyes. Ute on the other hand had a mohawk, which he had dyed black, due to a bet he lost with Bear and had green eyes. Collins slowly turned his attention to the team.

"That was a good job you boys did back there." He commented in a hard, stern voice "But you're not out of the fire yet." He moved over to the map and pushed a button. Suddenly, a blue 3-D holographic image of a city block pops up. Collins continued "Rio de Janiero, this is where several Alliance leaders are meeting; including President Johnson. Usually, the local Police would handle this, but intel has two Russians in Rio, possibly Spetznaz." Collins pushed another button and two profiles pop up from the map.

"What's being discussed at this meeting?" asked Shadow as he reviewed the two profiles.

"The plans of action against the Communists. Several leaders want to place garrisons in key cities in Europe such as Paris, Berlin, and Prague. But there are a few leaders who feel the Russians pose no threat." answered Collins glancing at each member as he talked.

"Well, they obviously have no clue what happened in Kazakhstan." quickly retorted Bear, but he was cut off by Collins.

"That is why they are having the meeting. To prove that Russia is planning for war against the Alliance. Now your job is to make sure those two Ruskie sons of bitches don't break up the meeting. Is that clear?" explained the General with a slight raise in his voice.

All four responded in unison. "Yes, sir."

Collins began to turn toward the observation window as the holographic images disappeared. "You are dismissed until 0400 on Monday. You will then leave for Brazil and prepare. The meeting is Wednesday at 1630 local time." All four operatives left the room but as soon as Shadow reached the door, he stopped and looked back at the General who was now standing and watching the flight deck.

"Were you informed of the arms dealer who was selling weapons to the Somalis, sir?" asked Shadow.

"Alexi Bourdik, yes I was. He is no longer our problem. The C.I.A. will track him down and take him into custody. I need you focused on Brazil." answered Collins without looking back at Shadow. Shadow simply nodded and put on his helmet as Zulu moved across the flight deck. Shadow noticed the other three were ahead of him and were exchanging laughs with some of the deck crew. He quickly caught up with them as they kept moving to go below deck.

"I've always wanted to go to Rio." joked Bear. "Sandy beaches, women in bikinis, amazing drinks. Oh, I can see it now." He chuckled as he motioned with his hands as if he was looking at a horizon.

"Yeah, you'll be seeing none of that when we get there. So keep dreaming." retorted Ute as he playfully punched Bear's shoulder before they reached the stairs. When they reached the rec room, Mutt stopped.

"Hey, I'll catch you guys later." he waved.

"You know it, dude." answered Bear. Mutt looked in the rec room expecting to find Wolf and Onyx in their same place but only found two sailors wearing their work camouflage, which was blue, green, and grey and resembled what Mutt remembers as a "tiger stripe" design. They were both on the couch watching a rather stupid reality show. Neither of them noticed the operative standing in the doorway until Mutt let out a shrill whistle. Both sailors turned their attention to Mutt.

"You guys see two Deltas in here recently?" asked Mutt as he noticed both had gone slack jawed. He got no response. "I'm gonna take that as a no." he let out a chuckle. "Relax, guys. This isn't a fucking interrogation. Anyway I could find out where one of them is?"

A sailor finally responded and pointed at a touch screen on the opposite wall. "Roster's right there." Mutt walked over to the screen and looked at it. He saw a tab labeled "Current Roster". He glanced back at the sailors.

"Everyone currently on this ship is on the roster? Even me?" asked Mutt.

The sailor answered "Yes, should be." Mutt pressed the tab and was greeted by a long list of names. The second sailor pitched in some advice.

"It's also voice-activated."

Mutt nodded. "Neat. Okay, find Delta operator 'Wolf'." Mutt waited for the result but was greeted by a soft female voice telling him no results were found. Mutt sighed. "Don't tell me I have to say her full name" he protested under his breath. He glanced back at the two sailors. "Need y'all to cover your ears." The sailors responded with questioning looks. "Her name is classified info, meaning you don't have permission." The sailors turned around and plugged their ears. "Okay, let's see. Find Staff Sergeant Emily River." Mutt waited for the same female voice.

"Staff Sergeant Emily River is on 12th deck, room 1201." Mutt turned around and patted one of the sailors on the back as he walked out. Both of them watched as Mutt exited the room and headed for the stairs. When he reached the 12th deck, he began to scan the room numbers, starting with 1210.

"1205, 1204, 1203, 1202, and 1201, here we are." When he reached the door, he decided to crack it open a little before opening it all the way. He found Wolf sitting on her bed, reading a tablet. She had taken off her armor and was wearing multi-cam fatigues with a black hoodie. She had also put her hair up in a bun. She took one look at Mutt as he took off his helmet and smiled.

"Now what if I had been naked?" she asked. Mutt smiled since he already had a smartass response.

"Well, it's not like I haven't seen you naked before." replied Monk as he smiled and placed his helmet on Wolf's dresser. Wolf giggled at his response, something Mutt had not heard in a while.

"Those were better days." She leaned back on the bed and put her hands behind her head. "So, whatcha need?"

"Got my new assignment." said Mutt as he leaned against the dresser. Wolf curiously lifted an eyebrow.

"Where at?" she asked.

"The sunny beaches of Rio. Except I'm not going to see those beaches because I'm defending our wonderful President Kevin Johnson, along with several other leaders as they debate whether Russia is a 'threat'." he responded sarcastically.

Wolf smiled "Sucks for you. Sword might be getting leave soon."

"How long have you guys been active?"

Wolf looked as if she was retrieving a lost memory. "Eight months and thirteen days." she replied

Mutt nodded "Zulu's been active for almost a year." He stood up and grabbed his helmet. "I'm gonna get some sleep, next couple of days are going to be filled with planning."

"You stay safe." smiled Wolf as Mutt walked out. Mutt continued up the stair to his room. He took off his armor, revealing a tan undershirt and multi-cam pants. He got ready for a day he knew would be filled with tedious planning and training.


	4. Calm Before the Storm

**Chapter 4-Calm Before the Storm**

August 9th, 2251

0400 hours

Mutt was still sleeping when Shadow opened the door. He looked down at the rookie who was snoring softly, and he wanted to give him a few more minutes to sleep. But he knew he they had the mission to get to, so he quickly nudged the soldier awake. Mutt woke up yawning and looked up at Shadow.

"What's up boss?" asked a still half-asleep Mutt.

"Heading to Rio, buddy, I'll meet you at the Pel'." Shadow responded as he walked out of the room. Mutt threw off the covers and swung around placing his feet on the floor. He was wearing nothing but black compression shorts, but quickly grabbed his pair of multi-cam pants. Slowly, Mutt shuffled over to the sink and mirror and rubbed his stubble. Unfortunately, he had no time to shave the rough hair. As he grabbed a tan undershirt, Mutt looked at the words "Unde Alii Non Audent" tattooed on his chest. He had got the tattoo not long after completing RASP and at first regretted it, but after a while came to accept it. He put the shirt on, tucked it in, and tightened his belt. Glancing over to a closet, Mutt began to put on his armor. The first time he remembered it took him over 30 minutes to get the armor on, now it took him less than 10. When he finally finished putting on the armor, he grabbed his helmet and walked over to his weapons locker. Mutt opened it and grabbed his S99 and M392, quickly inspecting both of them. He then proceeded to the flight deck where he found a Pelican waiting with its cargo ramp lowered and engines warming. The rest of the team along with 3 Rangers were standing on the ramp waiting. Mutt noticed the Rangers wearing their Army BDU's, which were greyish in color, and were wearing the M25B body armor system. Shadow turned to the rookie as he approached.

"Hey Mutt. We have some Rangers joining us for the mission." said Shadow.

One of the Rangers approached Mutt and offered his hand. "I'm Staff Sergeant Reyes, those are Sergeants Joseph and Kerry."

Mutt shook Reyes' hand and noticed he was Hispanic, Joseph and Kerry were both Caucasian. "Nice to meet you guys. Which Regiment are you from?" asked Mutt.

Reyes responded with pride. "We are from the 581st." Mutt nodded and followed his teammates up the ramp. Once he found his seat, he placed his weapons in the holders beside him. He sat down and lowered the harness, which he planned to release once the Pelican was in the air. He didn't enjoy being restricted in his seat, but he understood the need for safety during takeoff. Ute sat beside him and lowered the harness, but then tried to adjust in his seat.

"Why do these harnesses have to be so fucking tight." complained Ute.

"To keep you in your seat during takeoff, that's why." responded Shadow as he slapped in his MA37 into the weapon holder beside a seat. He then continued to the cockpit and put his hand on the pilot's shoulder. "You got this, Murphy?" Murphy wore the Pilot armor variant and had an etched a cross into the right side of his helmet. He belonged to Icarus Team and, like Hawk, was pilot for most of the teams. He turned to look over his shoulder at Shadow.

"You know it, taking you guys to paradise." responded Murphy in his heavy Bostonian accent.

A voice sounded off from the co-pilot's seat "We are going to Rio, Murph, not a gay bar." Shadow turned around to find Slash, Icarus' Team Leader. Slash wore ODST armor, but had spray painted shark teeth onto his visor. Shadow laughed at the remark.

"You would find a gay bar to be heaven, wouldn't you, you fucker?" The two bumped fists and Shadow turned around and slapped Murphy on the shoulder. "Just get us there safely, okay?"

"Can't promise." said Murphy as he began to flip switches. Shadow walked back to his seat and looked at the Rangers sitting across from them.

"You guys may want to tighten your harnesses." He sat down and lowered the harness. "Murph and Slash are flying."

Ute instantly stared at Shadow in disbelief, Bear began to let out a hearty laugh, and Mutt on the other hand still sat their motionless as if asleep. The Rangers appeared confused and looked at each other for guidance. They eventually settled on giving Shadow confused looks.

"Collins let those two knuckleheads fly. Why?" protested Ute.

Suddenly the intercom came to life with Murphy's voice. "This is your captain speaking. We are on a one-way flight to the beautiful paradise of Rio de Janiero. So please return your trays to the upright position. There are no puke bags, so please contain it to your helmet. In the case of a crash," Murphy fell silent for a few seconds "You're all fucked. Please enjoy your flight with Icarus Airlines."

"Fuck you, you Irish prick!" screamed Ute, causing Bear to laugh even harder. Suddenly, the jets fired causing a kick to be felt by everyone in the cabin. Everyone grabbed their harnesses as the heavy Pelican lifted into the air and began its journey. The cabin soon stopped shaking and the intercom came on again.

"You may now move around the cabin freely. Enjoy your flight." said Murphy. Everyone in the cabin lifted their harness and Shadow got up once again and walked back to the cockpit. "What path are you taking?"

"I was thinking about staying over the ocean the majority of the time. Only time we will be over land is near the Horn of Good Hope." responded Murphy.

"South Africa is a Communist territory, Murph." answered Shadow.

"Trust me on this one. The CASA may hold most of the country but the Liberty Party has the majority in the southern regions." responded Murphy.

Slash decided to butt in. "Oscar Utan is doing a pretty good job getting votes from the Communist Party.

"Okay, I'll leave it to you." said Shadow as he patted Murphy on the shoulder and walked back into the cabin. He found everyone relaxing in their seats and inspecting weapons, also noticing the Rangers had taken off most of their armor. He sat back down beside Ute and leaned back.

"I think the rookie has got a routine with flying." pondered Bear as he stood next to a motionless Mutt, who had slumped into his seat.

"What?" asked Ute as he looked over at Mutt. "Huh, rook's fallen asleep."

"He does this every time we fly. Why?" Bear kept questioning. "I could never sleep before a mission."

Shadow answered for Mutt. "Maybe it's a ritual." He slowly crossed his arms. Bear then walked back to his seat and sat down. Around twelve hours later, the team finally landed in Rio at the Brazilian Air Force Base. When the ramp lowered, the team found two Brazilian soldiers waiting for them. They wore greenish jigsaw camo and carried an older version of the MA37, the MA21. They quickly stood at attention when the team walked down the ramp. An officer wearing a red beret stood near the ramp at parade rest, waiting for the operators. Shadow offered his hand to the officer, "I'm Shadow from the Special Operations Command." The officer shook Shadow's hand, "I am Colonel del Santos of the División de Infantería Decimoséptimo . Welcome to Rio."

"Glad to be here. Will you be assisting us?" asked Shadow as the rest of the team got their equipment off the Pelican.

"No, that will be the Police's job. They have already assigned sniper's nests and checkpoints. All you need to do is set up your positions." responded del Santos.

"Perfect." Shadow looked back at the team as they walked down the ramp. Two black SUVs pulled up next to the two men talking. The passenger side door of the front SUV opened and a man wearing all black stepped out and walked over to Shadow and offered his hand. "I am Captain Yevez of the Rio Police Department. I have been ordered to escort you to your hotel."

Shadow shook the Captain's hand. "Sounds good." He looked back at the men. "Let's go guys. Load up." The team moved to the second SUV and got in. The Rangers filled the third row, while Shadow took the passenger's seat and the rest of Zulu took the second row of seats. The SUVs drove off and toward downtown and all the commotion. Bear looked out the window and then nudged Ute in the shoulder.

"Dude, look at this." Ute leaned toward the window. "It's a freaking carnival."

Bear laughed. "Yep. Hey Shadow, wanna go watch the carnival?"

Shadow shook his head. "We got a mission, boys. We need to be focused." Just then a ringtone was heard, causing everyone in the SUV turned around looking for the source of the noise. Mutt suddenly noticed he was receiving a call over the radio. He looked to see who was the caller and found out it was Wolf, he quickly answered.

"Hey Wolf. What's up?" said Mutt.

Wolf seemed as if she was panicking when she talked. "Mutt, listen to me. According to Jag, a Russian fleet off the coast of Cuba was heading toward Rio. Command said the fleet disappeared almost an hour ago." Mutt stopped her.

"Wait, how does a fucking fleet disappear?" responded Mutt as he looked up at Shadow.

"I don't know and neither does Collins. Command is freaking out. All I want you to do is stay safe out there. Tell the rest of the guys. I got to go now. Sword is getting ready to head out on leave. I just wanted to let you know. Bye." The call ended when Wolf hung up. Everyone looked at Mutt speechless. Mutt finally informed everyone of the current situation.

"Command said a large Russian fleet heading in the direction of Rio just fell off the grid. If you ask me, I think the Russians are planning to start a war."


	5. Infierno en el Paraíso

**Chapter 5-** **Infierno en el Paraíso**

The next two days went off without any interesting events, except for the carnival going on. President Johnson and the other leaders arrived a day before the conference, Zulu's job was to make sure the conference happened. On the day of the conference, Mutt was lying in his nest across from the Marriott hotel where the conference was taking place. The carnival going on below was starting to get on Mutt's nerves. He could barely focus on the job with the constant noise. He looked at the meeting through his scope and noticed the Canadian Prime Minister was standing up and talking very furiously. Mutt's radio came to life suddenly.

"Mutt, what's going on with the conference?" asked Shadow over the radio. Mutt shifted slightly before answering.

"The Canadian looks pissed about something, don't know what he's talking about." responded Mutt. "This carnival is annoying the shit out of me, boss."

"Yeah, same here. Bear, Ute, how is your position?" asked Shadow

Bear took a little bit responded "Pretty good. Nothing new. You sure those Spetz are here?"

Suddenly, Mutt noticed something strange. A man placed a suitcase by a bus stop and walked off without it. Mutt quickly got on his radio to Shadow.

"Boss, 10 o'clock. The bus stop, guy just dropped a suitcase and just left."

"Ah shit. I see it, Murphy can you get to it. Mutt, spot the guy who dropped it. Do it quick. Bear, be prepared to get the leaders out of the hotel." Shadow commanded.

"Got him, and you're not gonna like this. He looks like one of the Spetz we're looking for." responded Mutt shortly after. The man was tall, muscular and bald. He was wearing a grey hoodie and jeans from what Mutt could tell. He kept tracking him waiting for the order to shoot. Murphy broke radio silence.

"I got good news and really bad news. Which one first?" asked Murphy.

"What's the good news?" asked Shadow.

"It's not a bomb." responded Murphy. "Bad news is, it's a beacon."

"For what?" asked Mutt. Before Murphy had a chance to speak, Mutt's question was answered.

"Barcos rusos descubrieron!" cried out someone on the radio.

"Boss?" asked Bear "What did he just say?"

Shadow responded slowly "I think we just found our missing Russian fleet. Get everyone out of that meeting room. Ute, help him."

"On it." answered Ute.

"Oh shit." said Shadow in fear. Mutt looked up to see what was scaring Shadow so much and found what looked like a star but it was getting closer. "Murphy! Get away from the beacon!" Mutt stood up and watched the missile close in. At this point he knew there was nothing he could do to stop it. The Russians had fired the first shots of what he knew would become World War IV. Mutt watched as Murphy attempted to clear carnival visitors from the street, but they merely looked at him in confusion. Shadow cried out to the rookie.

"Mutt, get out of the building!" screamed Shadow. The missile collided with the building next to the hotel and detonated. The explosion threw Mutt off balance and sent debris into the street, causing utter chaos. The rookie headed for the stairs while avoiding herds of people, hearing three more loud explosions on his way down. When he reached ground floor he found Shadow looking out the door. He leaned up against his team leader.

"What the hell is going on?" asked Mutt.

"Russians are starting a war, that's what's going on?" responded Shadow. "Bear, what's your status?"

"I don't know what's going on. I'm handing the leaders over to the police. They are taking them out of the city. I'll be coming out the front door with Ute." said Bear sounding almost out of breath

"Waiting for you." responded Shadow as an artillery shell landed in the middle of a group of people about 50 yards to the left, killing everyone in the group instantly. A second round hit another hotel around the 10th floor, the explosion shattered a majority of the building's windows. Shadow looked up and noticed artillery and missiles going deeper into the city. "Shit." He looked back at the hotel entrance and saw Bear and Ute running out and across the street. When they reached Mutt and Shadow's position, Ute stopped beside Shadow.

"What the actual fuck is happening? One minute, the Canadian PM is talking about Kazakhstan. The next minute, he's screaming about how he was right about the Russians attacking while we are running for our lives." said Ute sounding out of breath.

"Fucking nut." protested Bear. "So what are we doing now, LT?"

Shadow looked around for a second as if listening to the explosions of the rounds and screams from civilians. "We got to help the police. The city's getting shelled and I'm pretty sure they are about to land."

"Your call, Shadow." responded Mutt. Shadow looked back outside and made his decision. He ran out into the street and began to assist officers with wounded civilians. Rounds kept falling around them as panicked civilians ran for safety. Bear ran over to a crying woman who was holding a young man who may have been her son. He had a large, bloody chest wound as she cradled him in her arms. Bear attempted to pick her up, but she pushed him away.

"¡Déjame en paz! Yo no quiero vivir más!" she cried out. Bear backed away and continued down the road until another round landed very close behind him. The blast was so powerful that it knocked him off his feet and covered him in chunks of asphalt. He got up slowly and turned around to see if the woman and her son were okay, but he only found a crater where she was sitting. Bear quickly bowed his head to pay his respects and then continued on his way. Shadow and Mutt were helping a paramedic with a woman with a badly torn up leg who had also gone into shock. At that moment, a man in front of Shadow fell dead from a gunshot to the chest. Shadow grabbed his MA37 and spun around to find the assailant and found himself face to face with one of the two Spetznaz operators. He was short and had long, straight black hair. He was square jawed, bulky and was wearing a simple shirt and cargo shorts. He had his QBZ-205 up at the ready. But before the operator could fire, Shadow let loose a quick volley from his assault rifle. The hot bullets cut through the Russians flesh easily since he was wearing no armor. The enemy fell to his knees as blood poured from the fresh wounds and stained his shirt dark red. But, the operator smiled as he drew his last breath knowing he had accomplished his mission. He had helped begin World War IV. The Russian's body went limp and fell back, leaving a pool of blood on the grass. Shadow looked back at Mutt and the paramedic, both who had stopped because of surprise from the gunfire. The silence was broken when a message came in from a Brazilian Army base nearby.

"Los informes de víctimas civiles. Los rusos están empezando a tierra. Se requiere asistencia." said the soldier delivering the message. Monk and Shadow nodded at each other, grabbed their weapons and went looking for their comrades. War had begun and no one was safe.


	6. Hell Rises

**Chapter 6-Hell Rises**

The two operators moved through the street dodging bullet fire and shrapnel while directing innocents to safety. Mutt ducked as he listened to 7.62s whistling by his head. He quickly fired back with his DMR at the Russians rushing off the beach and through alleys onto the streets. The first wave of Brazilians greeted the invaders with a deadly volley from their MA21s, but the Russians retaliated with deadly precision from their QBZs. One Brazilian beside Shadow had taken a bullet to his chest and had fallen limp. A comrade of his came up to replace him, but was quickly taken down by a kill shot to his neck. Shadow turned to face Mutt, who was trying to assist a medic.

"Mutt!" screamed Shadow through the gunfire and explosion. The rookie looked up and quickly ran over to Shadow, dodging several bullets in the process. He kneeled beside him and continued to fire.

"What's up, boss?" asked Mutt. One of Mutt's shots went through a Russian's skull causing him to fall limp. The corpse tripped up two other Russians, both of whom were easily cut down by Brazilian fire.

"Where are Bear and Ute?" Shadow questioned. Mutt responded by merely shrugging.

"We split up during the initial bombardment! They went somewhere else to help!" responded Mutt. Shadow was terrified by this news. His team was split up and he didn't know how they were. He cared for his team because they were his brothers and closest friends. For him, losing one of his teammates was like losing a family member. He quickly got on the radio to find his lost comrades.

"Bear, Ute, where are you guys?" screamed Shadow.

Bear answered "Falling back a couple of blocks from Avenida Atlantica. I think we are near Hotel Canada." Bullets could be heard whizzing by him as he talked on the radio.

"You two stay safe out there, okay?" said Shadow.

"Will do, bossman." responded Bear as Shadow raised his MA37, opening fire on several Russians running down an alley. Most of them were killed but two of them fell down screaming in pain. A couple of their friendlies dragged them to safety away the bullets. Shadow turned to Mutt who was currently reloading his DMR. "We need to fall back! The Russians are going to overrun us!" he screamed to the rookie. Mutt agreed by nodding and tapping a Brazilian soldier beside him. When the soldier gave Mutt his attention, Mutt motioned behind them.

"We have to fall back!" yelled Mutt as loud as he could at the soldier. The soldier nodded and turned to his squadmates.

"Retirarse!" he screamed as soldiers began to retreat under the hail of Russian bullets. As they pulled back, an artillery round landed near Shadow and a group of soldiers. The explosion sent the operator flying into a wall, causing him to become dizzy. He looked around to try and get his bearings but the scene in front of him was pure madness. He could hear nothing in his ears due to the ringing, but to him it was better than hearing the screams of dying men. In the blurriness Shadow saw Mutt running over to his slumped body. His teammate gave a quick glance at Shadow, but then Mutt began to hit Shadow as if trying to wake a sleeping person. In an instant, Shadow took in all the sights and sounds of war at once. He looked around quickly to assess the situation.

"Wake the fuck up, LT!" yelled Mutt "You're okay!" The rookie then stood up and held out his hand. Shadow grasped it and allowed Mutt to pull him off the wall. Shadow found the crater where the shell had impacted and found three dead Brazilians in an almost unrecognizable state. He felt lucky until he got a call from Ute.

"Boss. I found one of the Rangers, Joseph. He's dead, took some shrap to the chest." reported Ute.

"Damn" responded Shadow as he and Mutt continued to move back with Mutt and the Brazilians. "What about the other two?"

"Nothing. I'll look for them." answered Ute. A bullet whizzed by Mutt's head. He turned around to return fire, unloading the rest of his clip. He reloaded the DMR as Shadow picked up his MA37 from the ground. Shadow tapped the rookie on the shoulder and motioned for him to keep moving back. Mutt ran as Shadow covered him from the Russian fire. Murphy made an announcement to the team.

"Listen guys, Slash and I made it back to the Pelican with a Ranger. Unfortunately, he's hit pretty bad. Just letting you know I'm starting the engines and we are leaving ASAP." said Murphy over the radio.

"We have to stay and defend Rio, Murph!" screamed Ute in response.

As an argument rose between the two, Shadow looked around at the scene. Russians had already taken several blocks with no resistance, they outgunned the Brazilians, and artillery was bombarding the city. He watched as missiles collided with buildings causing massive destruction. One building began to collapse, causing the ground to rumble with the force of an earthquake. Now, Shadow had to make a tough decision: Stay, defend Rio, and possibly risk losing a teammate or Play it safe and fall back. Shadow got back on the radio.

"Rio's lost. Fall back. Maybe we can regroup with some of the main force." commanded Shadow.

"That's bullshit! We can still defend this!" yelled Ute.

"It's my decision to make, Ute! Not yours!" argued Shadow "I'm not gonna lose someone I care about over a no-win situation!"

"We can push them back, LT!" continued Ute.

"No you can't! You're outgunned and outmanned! We are split up! The town is getting destroyed! We lost!" screamed Shadow "Now fall back!"

"Yes, sir" responded Ute angrily. Shadow hated yelling at his teammates but he knew Ute was about to do something stupid and would get him or Bear killed. He continued to move back with Mutt, hoping to find Bear, Ute, and the lost Ranger. He knew Sgt. Joseph was dead but Murphy mentioned they had found one of the Rangers but he didn't know if it was Reyes or Kerry. He hoped they would find both of them alive. The situation at the moment was pure chaos, explosions ripping through the city, quick attacks followed by even quicker counterattacks. As Mutt and Shadow did their best to stay together on the way to the airbase, they noticed the streets littered with bodies of civilians and soldiers alike. Shadow had been in large fights before but none on this scale. He had defended the town of Freetown in Sierra Leone from an insurgent which left hundreds dead, but this death toll looked to be in the thousands. Shadow felt like he was going to be sick at the sight of the bodies so bad that he had completely forgotten about the artillery barrage. He was once again brought back to his senses by the rookie, who put his hand on his shoulder.

"Let's go, bro. We need to move." said the operator calmly. Shadow responded by nodding his head. The two ran into almost resistance to the airport until they almost 800 yards from the Pelican. They ran into a small Russian patrol in a neighborhood. Before being spotted the two took cover behind a house, but Shadow noticed a soldier being dragged. He was extremely dirty and bloody making his uniform unrecognizable. He had blood gushing two gunshot wounds to his torso and another to his arm. Neither Shadow nor Mutt could see the soldier's face as a Russian pushed him against a wall. One of the Russians pulled out his side arms as his other three comrades amused themselves by hitting the prisoner of war.

"Damn. We gotta do something." whispered Mutt. One of the soldiers delivered a vicious right hook to the prisoner's face, causing him to go to a knee.

"Na koleni, amerikanskiy svin'ya!" yelled a Russian.

"Ah hell." Shadow whined under his breath. He knew enough Russian to know the Communists had gotten to the lost Ranger before they could. He started thinking of a plan to free the captured American.

"Proshu dlya svoyey materi!" said the Russian as he placed the pistol to the back of the Ranger's head. The Ranger could be heard saying a prayer in Spanish. Instantly, Mutt recognized the voice of Reyes. He looked to Shadow for a plan.

Shadow merely said "We shoot on three. One…Two…"

"Ad zhdet svoyu dushu , sobaka." was the last word of the Russian as Shadow and Mutt turned around the corner.

"Three!" shouted Shadow as he unleashed his first round. The Russians were so shocked at the new assailants that they did not fire at all. Mutt and Shadow easily cut down the four enemies with precision. Two of the enemies were killed by shots to the head, another to the chest, the last took a shot in the torso and finally the chest. Reyes was even shocked and fell to the ground screaming curse words in Spanish. Mutt picked him up and assessed the damage. Reyes' face looked like that of a prize fighter. His nose had been badly broken and his right eye had swollen. Fortunately, he could still walked and the group made the final push to the Pelican. Shadow was the first one on the ship and was greatly relieved to find Bear and Ute alive and intact. He ran over and quickly embraced the two.

"Don't you ever do that again, fucker. You're my brother and I care about you." said Shadow emotionally. Both operators returned the favor as Mutt assisted Reyes aboard with the help of Kerry. The ramp began to raise as Slash walked into the cabin.

"Collins wants us on the Titan." said Slash

"We failed the mission, didn't we? We lost Rio." whined Ute.

"No, it was kind of a success. We protected the leaders and plans are already being made for an offensive. Zulu's getting leave time." responded Slash.

Shadow let out a sigh. He was having conflicted feelings. He was relieved, but at the same time he had a burning passion to continue to fight. He made his way to his seat, taking off his helmet and placing his gun in the holder. He hoped for a short war, but he knew all too well this war would go on for years.


	7. Love Remembered

**Chapter 7- Love Remembered**

The Pelican approached the USS Titan, which was located in the Gulf of Mexico. Murphy got on the radio with the control tower as they got closer.

"USS Titan, this is Icarus 2-3, requesting permission to land." said Murphy over the radio.

"Icarus 2-3, permission granted." responded the radio control tower to Murphy's request.

"Be advised, I have two injured soldiers aboard who are in need of medical attention." Murphy told the control tower.

"Copy that, we will have medical teams waiting for you." responded the tower. The Pelican landed on the flight deck and the ramp began to lower. Bear and Ute picked Kerry up out of the chair and supported him. Reyes was still strong enough to get up so he waved off Mutt's attempt to help him up. When the ramp was finally fully lowered, several medics ran onto the Pelican and assisted the wounded Rangers. Slash and Murphy joined Zulu before following the medics down the ramp, and they found Collins waiting for them on the deck. They walked up to their commander and saluted him, which Collins returned. The operatives stood at parade rest and waited for the general's orders.

"Gentlemen, you boys went through hell. That's why I'm granting Zulu Team five weeks leave. Slash, I will be giving Icarus Team three weeks. Use it wisely." ordered the general as he walked away. The operators quickly got to their room and began packing belongings. Mutt was extremely excited since he knew he would be seeing both Wolf and Fox very soon. After packing his stuff, he closed his bags, picked it up, and flipped the strap over his shoulder. He headed back to the Pelican finding Shadow already aboard, with Bear trailing not far behind. When Mutt entered the cabin and found an open seat, he removed his helmet. Placing in the seat next to him he slumped back and closed his eyes. He quickly fell asleep before the transport took off. Shadow walked past the sleeping Mutt and noticed he had not lowered his harness, so he lowered it for him quietly hoping not to wake Mutt. Shadow took his seat, thinking about what he would do when he got home, who he would see, and unfortunately, how to explain what had just happened.

**2 days later**

He could see his breath in the crisp, fall air as he walked along the side of the road looking at the houses. Mutt held his hands in the pockets of the black hoodie he was wearing. He only brought his hand out of the pocket to feel his rough beard. He looked around trying to get his bearings, since he had not been back in West Virginia for almost a year. But he knew for sure that Wolf lived on Chandler Drive, almost a block from his house. He finally reached his destination, looking up at the small, two-story brick house. He climbed the two sets of stairs to her door and knocked after adjusting his hoodie a little. After he knocked he heard Wolf yell.

"I'm coming, just hold on a minute!" yelled Wolf. Mutt then heard Wolf walking to the door. He waited and looked around until he heard the door being unlocked. When she opened the door, Mutt found her wearing a white tank top and jeans, but she was barefooted and had her hair hanging around her shoulders. She merely smiled when she saw Mutt on her doorstep.

"What brings you here, Mutt?" she said as she leaned against the door frame.

"We're off-duty, Emily. We can use our given names." grinned Mutt. "Also, I was just looking for some company."

Wolf chuckled "As you can see I'm not really prepared for company, but…" she paused for a second "I guess you can come in." She got out of the doorway and walked inside. Mutt took his hood off showing that his short brown hair had grown a little. He took off his boots at the door and placed them by the door. The boots had once belonged to Mutt's great-grandfather and he found them more comfortable to wear than any other shoe he had. He walked in and looked around, spotting two jackets on the hanger. He now could assume Fox was home as well. He looked to where Wolf had gone and found her in her living room watching the television. The two of them exchanged looks and remained silent until Wolf spoke.

"I'm glad you made it out of Rio in one piece, Chris. Shit's getting real serious over there." she said as Mutt walked in and looked at what was on. The attack on Rio was huge news and was being covered by everyone. On the screen currently was a live shot of Rio, most of the city was engulfed in smoke and gunfire could be heard as the reporter talked about the efforts of the Brazilian Army to push back the Russians. "According to INN, the fighting has moved into the favelas. Russians are showing no signs of letting up though, they are slaughtering everyone in their path." she shook her head in dismay.

"Are we planning to send anyone in?" asked Mutt.

"Collins won't send in another Delta team if you guys got rid of those Spetz." answered Wolf.

"Shadow got one of them. I don't know about the second one. Probably ditched after the beacon was placed." responded Mutt. Wolf turned to her left and began to walk, but then stopped and looked over her shoulder at Mutt.

"You want anything to drink?" she asked. Mutt sat down on her couch thinking.

"What do you have" questioned Mutt. Wolf opened her refrigerator and looked inside.

"Got some soda, water, juice, beer." she answered.

"What beers do you have?" asked Mutt

"Coors, Bud, and…oh look." she looked up holding a bottle. "I got your favorite."

"It's kinda like you were expecting me, doesn't it? Give me the Yuengling" answered Mutt. She then pulled out a can and tossed Mutt the bottle along with a bottle opener. Mutt popped the cap off and put it on the table beside him. Wolf opened her beer and the two of them toasted. After taking a quick drink from her beer, Wolf began to change the channels. Mutt looked at her confused.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm just tired of seeing that shit on the TV. I went on leave to get a break from it, not have it shoved in my face 24/7." she protested. Wolf took one more sip from her beer and noticed Mutt was still looking at her. The two began to lean closer to each other as Mutt closed his eyes. Suddenly, he felt a blade against his neck, causing him to go stiff.

"Don't try anything funny with my sister, Mutt." said a voice.

"Jesus Christ, Sarah! What the fuck is your deal?" yelled Wolf. Mutt felt the blade come off his neck, he opened his eyes and turned around to find Fox holding her usual tomahawk. She had short, brown hair similar in color to Mutt's. She was short, around five foot six, and was muscular for a female. At the moment, Fox was wearing a blue t-shirt which had the logo of the university. Also, she had on a pair of torn blue jeans.

"What? Last time you two started kissing, I heard you guys for two hours. You're a screamer, sis. I couldn't sleep." complained Fox as she put the tomahawk down. She then turned her attention to Mutt. "So Chris, how was Rio?"

"Shit." responded Mutt simply.

"How shit?" asked Fox.

"Worse than a Waffle House bathroom." joked Mutt.

"That's pretty shit." chuckled Fox.

"Indeed." smiled Mutt. He grabbed his beer and took another drink. Fox proceeded to sit between the two, wrapping her arms around both of them.

"So what are you two up to?" chuckled Fox.

"Just looking for something to watch." said Wolf as she grabbed the remote. "Also, having a beer."

Fox jumped up onto the couch. "Oh, can I have one?" asked Fox with excitement.

Wolf rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sis, you don't need to ask." Fox jumped off the couch, walked over to the fridge and grabbed a can. She opened it as she walked back to the couch. Suddenly, Mutt's phone began to ring. He grabbed it from his jeans pocket to check the number. The caller ID read "Charlie", so Mutt knew he had to answer. He stood up and walked out of the room as Wolf watched him confused.

"Hey. What's up?" asked Mutt as he paced the hallway.

"Hope you're ready for some training, bro." answered Shadow. From the quality of the call, Mutt knew Shadow was driving. "Listen, everyone is coming to Charleston to train."

"Liar." said Mutt annoyed.

"Okay fine, maybe we want to see Sarah and Emily too." admitted Shadow. "But I am serious about training."

"So, Eli is coming all the way from fucking Cali to train?" questioned Mutt.

"Damn straight he is, I'm in North Carolina right now, and last time I heard from James he was in Tennessee." said Shadow.

"Is James bringing his wife and kid?" Mutt worried.

"Nah." responded Shadow. "She's staying with her brother in Chicago. Listen, I got to go. I'll see you soon buddy." Shadow hung up. Mutt dropped the phone back in his pocket and turned around to find Wolf behind him. He began to explain the situation but she interrupted him before he could start.

"I heard. Train hard, soldier." she said as she leaned up against Mutt. "Just promise you'll come by again soon."

Mutt held her hands. "I promise." She then leaned in and gently kissed Mutt on his cheek. Wolf then slowly walked back into the living room as Mutt backed out of the door.

**The next day: 1500**

Runners watched in amazement as the two men sped past them, each one sprinting for the finish line as fast as they could. Neck in neck, the two of them crossed the line as Mutt and Bear hit their stopwatches. Bear looked back at the crowd which had gathered about thirty minutes ago.

"Looks like Charlie and Eli have gathered a crowd" chuckled Bear. Mutt smiled as he looked behind him waiting for the two runners to catch their breath.

"Well it's not often that two white boys outrun the entire track team." joked Mutt.

Ute was the first one to arrive. He was short but muscular, which was very obvious because of his lack of a shirt. He was also wearing black gym shorts. But his most obvious feature was the rose tattooed on the right side of his chest in honor of his mother. He brushed his mohawk as he approached the two timekeepers.

"Okay, which one of you has my time?" he asked as he inhaled deeply. Bear raised his watch to indicate he had his time.

"Damn, three miles in 11:40.65. Nice time, Eli." said Bear with a grin on his face as Mutt showed him Shadow's time.

"Ha! Beat that LT!" gloated Ute as he walked to the water fountain. Shadow then approached Mutt. He was tall and stocky. He had several scars on his chest and had a barbed wire tattoo design going around his right arm, along with an intricate sleeve on his left arm depicting an armored knight fighting a dragon. He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt and red gym shorts.

"What's my time, Chris?" questioned Shadow. Mutt looked back at Bear grinning, who was a beast of a man and was well adorned with tattoos.

"Well, LT, you did it in 11:40:13." answered Mutt. This result caused Ute to do a spit take, almost splashing several bystanders.

"That's bullshit!" protested Ute. "I beat his ass, Charlie, and you know it! You know what I want to race again!" Shadow calmed the angry operator, patting him on the shoulder.

"Maybe tomorrow, Eli. I think it's about time to head back to the house." said Shadow calmly, sounding almost like a father. The team began to pack Mutt's car with their gear and sat in the car as Mutt started the engine. Finally, the car pulled into Mutt's house on Rayhill Drive. It was the same one Mutt had grown up in as a child. He walked up to the door, unlocked it, and tossed his bag on the couch. The rest of the team began to make themselves at home.

Bear happily sighed "Home away from home." Mutt chuckled at this.

"You need to visit more often to call it that." joked Mutt.

"You really think I'm going to drag Caroline and the kid all the way from Wisconsin to see your bitch ass." laughed Bear. "I'm just kidding. Maybe next time we get leave, I'll do my best to convince her." The rest of the evening went on without anything exciting. It wasn't until later that night when everyone was asleep that Mutt heard a noise which startled him. He thought he had heard his door opening and closing, causing him to draw a pistol he kept near him. He felt reassured it was nothing until he heard the creak of something walking in the hallway. He got out of his bed and began to walk to his door. Suddenly, the door opened and the light came on. Mutt began to pull the trigger but let off when he saw the intruder was Wolf. Wolf finding herself in Mutt's sights managed to hold back a shriek.

"Shit. You were about one pound away from having a bullet in your head, Emily." exhaled Mutt as he lowered the gun.

"Thanks for the heads up" voiced Wolf as began to calm down.

"So what do you want?" asked Mutt.

"I wanted to see you." whimpered Wolf. Mutt rolled his eyes.

"So you broke into my house?" asked Mutt sounding annoyed "You could have knocked."

"Well, I wanted to sneak up on you." responded Wolf shyly.

"That strategy almost got you killed." Mutt said as he yawned. He glanced back at Wolf who had an evil grin on her face. "Oh god, no, not tonight."

"Please?" begged Wolf. Mutt slumped his shoulders as Wolf pleaded.

"Ok, fine. But you keep quiet or you're gonna wake the guys." responded Mutt.

"Deal." exclaimed Wolf as she closed the door and turned off the light. "But you might be the one yelling tonight." she giggled as the light went off for the night.


	8. The Gang's All Here

**Chapter 8- The Gang's All Here **

The sounds and smell of frying woke Mutt up. He wiped his eyes and stretched his arms, yawning. He turned to his right and found Wolf still asleep. He smiled as he got out of bed slowly, grabbed an old football jersey and sweatpants, and headed downstairs. When he reached the bottom of the stairs he found Shadow in the kitchen, while Bear and Ute sat at the table. Shadow turned around to face the two.

"I'm telling you, I can cook a mean omelet." protested Shadow as he held up his spatula.

"You've been eating shitty MRE's for almost 12 years of your life, LT. Your taste buds are dead." joked Bear. Shadow looked over at Mutt and smiled.

"Well good morning, sunshine." said Shadow as he smiled.

"Morning" groaned Mutt as he put the jersey on over his body. He headed over to the fridge.

"Eli made some coffee for us." offered Shadow. But Mutt reached into the fridge and pulled out an energy drink. He popped open the top and walked over to the table. Shadow smiled. "You know that shit's bad for you."

"Oh keep bitching, mom." groaned Mutt as he drank from the can and pulled a chair out. He sat down as Bear looked over to Shadow.

"So what's the plan for today, boss?" asked Bear as Shadow place pieces of the omelet on four plates and began placing them on the table. Shadow then grabbed his mug and took a drink of coffee before explaining the day's plan.

"There's a firing range near here. I was thinking about taking the gang there for a little bit." explained Shadow. Forks clanging against plates were briefly interrupted in order for Ute to talk.

"So who's going?" questioned Ute with a mouthful of egg. Shadow looked up from his plate to answer.

"Us, Wolf, and Fox." answered Shadow.

"Wait, what about me?" asked Wolf from the bottom of the stairs. Everyone turned around to face Wolf who was at the foot of the stairs wearing a bathrobe. Everyone but Mutt had a shocked look on their face. Mutt nervously smiled as Wolf scratched her arm. "I couldn't find my clothes, so I grabbed this robe. If that's alright." she said shyly.

"Yeah it's fine. I don't know where you tossed your clothes, but we'll find them." responded Mutt. He got up from his seat and hugged Wolf, pulling her close to his body. Finally, Bear broke the awkward silence.

"Did you two do what I think you did?" asked a shocked Bear

Wolf giggled as she responded. "Oh, James, all night long." Mutt sighed as he rolled his eyes knowing everyone would be asking about what happened. He looked back down at Wolf.

"What do you want for breakfast, Emily?" asked Mutt.

"Anything is fine." Wolf responded as she flicked her long, black hair to the side and walked over to the table and grabbed Mutt's energy drink. "Yoink, mine." she laughed as she took a sip. Mutt smiled and shook his head.

"How about an egg?" asked Mutt as he got a pan out.

"Sounds fine to me." she said as she looked at the can. "This shit's bad for you, Chris. You know that, right?" Mutt sighed once again as he cracked an egg. Shadow butted in without hesitation.

"I keep telling him that, Em." joked Shadow. She put the drink back where she found it as she pulled up a chair.

"So, want me to call Sarah see if she can bring the truck?" asked Wolf as Mutt continued to cook her egg. Shadow leaned back in his chair as he finished his last bite.

"That would be awesome." responded Shadow, Wolf peered over to Mutt in the kitchen.

"Hey Chris, where's my phone?" Wolf questioned as Mutt slid the finished egg onto a plate and walked over to the table.

"It was in your pants. Just use mine" Mutt answered as he grabbed his phone from the counter and tossed it to Wolf, who caught it in her right hand and began going through the contacts until she found her sister. She hit the 'call' button and placed it up to her ear.

"Hey sis, it's Emily. Listen…You don't need to know why I'm at Chris' house…Okay, listen, Charlie is planning on going to the firing range today and wants to take us…I need you to bring the truck to Mutt's place…Okay…See you soon." She hung up and placed the phone back on the table and looked up at the group. "She said she'll be here in an hour, she still has to shower and get dressed."

Shadow got up from his seat saying "We better do the same thing, dibs on first shower downstairs."

Ute and Bear got up as well "You son of a bitch, Charlie" protested Ute, to which Shadow chuckled. The three then walked into the living room as Mutt walked upstairs. Wolf began to follow him very carefully into his room. She gently leaned up against his back. Mutt pulled a pair of blue jeans from the closet.

"Found your jeans." Mutt said as he smiled softly. Wolf quickly snatched the jeans away from him smiling. "You can use the bathroom right there" he continued nodding his head in the direction of the bathroom. She walked away but brushed her hand gently down his back.

She giggled. "Just don't spy on my ass, alright?" Mutt smiled as he held back a laugh.

"No promises." he joked as Wolf closed the bathroom door behind her. Mutt sat down on the bed going through clothes until he noticed a picture frame behind the nightstand. He reached for it and brought it out from its cover. He found it to be a picture of him and Wolf during their senior year in high school, and Mutt could tell he still had not decided to enlist because his hair was still quite long in the picture. He then figured the picture had been taken almost seven years ago. He gently placed the picture back on his nightstand. Eventually, everyone was ready and Fox pulled her truck into the driveway.

"Grab the weapons, boys." ordered Shadow as he picked up two gun cases. Fox opened the driver's door and jumped down. She saw the guns and shook her head.

"Christ, you guys look like you're preparing for Armageddon." she complained as she lowered the tailgate. Shadow merely glanced at her when he responded.

"Well with what the Russians are doing, we might be facing Armageddon." he said as he slid the two cases into the truck bed. The rest of the gang loaded their weapons as Fox started the truck.

"My sis gets shotgun, I need to talk to her. You guys sit in the bed." demanded Fox. Mutt already knew what Fox wanted to talk about to Wolf as he jumped over the side into the bed. Once all the operatives were in the back, Fox began to pull out of the driveway.

"You know what this feels like? That op we did in Thailand." Bear joked

"Not really, James. It's colder and I'm not swatting at any damn mosquitos." retorted Shadow.

"At least it was better than being stuck in a canyon like that one group." answered Mutt. "What were their names?"

"Just a group of idiots Command tricked. No one important." replied Shadow. The rest of the group laughed as Fox continued down the road. Ute then nudged Mutt's shoulder.

"So, you and Emily, huh?" asked Ute jokingly. Mutt shoved him away as the others laughed.

"I'm not giving details, you pervert." responded Mutt.

"Not that, dude. Are you two getting back together?" Ute continued to interrogate. Mutt paused for a second thinking of an answer.

"About a seventy percent chance. Okay, no more questions." answered Mutt.

Ute looked over to Shadow. "No further questions, your honor."

Shadow began to snicker as Fox opened the back window.

"We are about ten minutes from the range. You guys alright back there?" she asked the group. Shadow responded by giving her a thumbs up. She then closed the window again as she turned left onto a gravel road. The rest of the trip was spent in silence until a small brick building came into view. Everyone in the bed of the truck sat up. Fox pulled into a space and came to a stop. The four in the bed jumped out and landed in the gravel with loud crunching noises. Ute lowered the tail gate and everyone began to grab their weapons and headed for the front door. Fox was the first to enter, followed by Wolf, and Zulu entered last. The man at the counter was short, plump, and had grey hair and beard. He wore thick glasses which peered over to the group as they entered.

"What's up, Gary?" nodded Fox as she entered the shop.

Gary pointed at the others in the group. "Who are these people, Sarah?"

Shadow responded for everyone. "That's classified information." he said as he walked up to the counter. "How long can we use the range?"

"As long as you want." answered the storeowner. "Only thing you have to buy is ammo."

Bear laughed a little as he held up an ammo can. "We got plenty of that."

The owner turned to walk back into the office. "Just follow the rules and we'll have no problems."

The team walked outside via the back door and found several stations for different weapons and scenarios. This included a two story building used for breaching and a range specifically for marksmen. Mutt nodded to Wolf in the direction of the range and she agreed to head that way. Shadow glanced over at both of them.

"Hey, I was planning on hitting that building once we get our guns warm." Shadow said.

"Sounds good." responded Mutt as he and Wolf walked up the path with their cases. When they reached the range they found a row of several paper targets in front of a large dirt backstop. The targets were about 400 to 500 meters out. Both of them placed their cases on a bench and opened them. Mutt pulled out his S99 with a 10X scope which could be adjusted down to 8X. When he looked over to see what Wolf had, he found her holding an SR78, an older, bolt-action make of the S99. It was also shorter and had no muzzle brake, but it had a larger six round magazine. She had equipped it with a 12X scope and a bipod. But Mutt also noticed she had attached iron sights to the side of the rifle.

"You still use that thing, Emily?" joked Mutt as he locked his bipod into place and walked up to a station. Wolf laughed at the insult of her choice of weapon.

"It still works. Why fix what isn't broken?" she questioned as she placed her rifle down at the station. They began to hear the shots from the others. Mutt set up his Rangefinder next to his rifle and adjusted it to the targets. He quietly chuckled at Wolf's response as he lied on his stomach and looked down his scope. "You know this relationship has to end once we are back on the field?" she said quietly.

"Yeah, I know." Mutt responded as he steadied his aim. He had one of the paper targets in his sights and he began to adjust for wind and distance.

"I just fear it might get in the way of an op and compromise a mission." she continued as Mutt began to apply pressure to the trigger. "You understand where I'm coming from?"

"Yeah." answered Mutt as he pulled the trigger. A loud 'crack' sounded as the rifle fired. Mutt watched through the scope as a hole appeared in the bulls-eye. Soon after Mutt's shot, Wolf's SR78 sounded off with a 'snap'.

"Bulls-eye." she said as she pulled the bolt back ejecting the round with a 'click'. Three more were heard as she chambered another round. Mutt looked over to her and smile.

"Lowest score buys drinks for the other. Deal?" asked Mutt.

"You're on." responded Wolf with confidence. The two of them continued firing until each of them had fired twelve more rounds downrange. The two operators walked to the targets to find out each other's scores. After comparing the targets, it was decided that Wolf had won by three points. She smugly glanced at Mutt as if she was bragging. Mutt patted his pockets down and looked back at Wolf with a worried look.

"Mind if I get an I.O.U.?" he asked nervously as he smiled.

Wolf smiled as she responded. "Fine, but this is the last time. Next time, you need and I.O.U., I'm gonna take your nuts off." she joked as she began to walk back to the station.

"Yes, ma'am." sarcastically responded Mutt as he followed Wolf back to his rifle.


	9. Back In Business

**Chapter 9- Back in Business**

September 18, 2551

Mutt sat on his bed and continued to inspect his helmet, until there was a knock on his door. When he looked up he found Shadow wearing Multi-Cam fatigues with the M25B.

"We're hitting the road. Get a move on." Shadow reminded the rookie as he left the doorway. The rookie put his helmet on the bed. He then stood up and went over to his locker and grabbed his M25B along with his CH252 helmet. He inspected it before donning it and then went over to his rifle locker. He put in the combination and opened it, grabbing his DMR. He walked out into the hallway toward the nearest stairs to the flight deck. The USS Houston's flight deck was filled with Pelicans being loaded with Marines and soldiers. The WA Council had approved the action to set up garrisons in key cities and to retake Rio. The 3rd MEU was charged with Rio, the 1st ID was to defend Paris, and the 15th ID had Berlin. The 2nd MEU would assist the British in defending London. But, Zulu had a different mission. Mutt found the team waiting for him at a Pelican near the end of the deck.

"Okay, now that Mutt's here I can explain the mission. Collins says there is an informant in Belarus, somewhere in the town of Mogilev. He goes by the codename "Taurus" and our objective is to get him out of the city since it was recently taken over by a combination of Chinese and Russian units." Shadow explained as the team got on the Pelican and found their seats. They were the only four in the cabin and they lowered their harnesses. It seemed the pilot was in a hurry since he started to take off before the ramp was fully raised.

"Any idea why?" questioned Ute.

Once the cabin settled, everyone released their harnesses and began prepping their gear. They all attached silencers to their DMRs.

"He has information on two Russian generals who are pretty high up on the most wanted list." responded Shadow as he grabbed a parachute pack and strapped it on. The rest of the team followed his lead as Shadow walked to the cockpit to talk to the pilot. "Get some altitude so the Commie radars won't see us."

"Yes, sir." responded the airman as he tilted the controls back slightly. "By the way, I'm A1C David Murray." He offered his hand to Shadow, which Shadow shook as he walked away.

"Don't get us killed, kid." Shadow said as he re-entered the cabin to be greeted by a team ready for action. He grabbed his DMR and held it in his right arm. "Chill out guys, we got some time." The team let out a sigh of relief as they sat down and let the weight off their shoulders.

**About one hour later**

**4,000 meters over Mogilev**

A red light illuminated the dark cabin and informed the passengers the ramp was about to be lowered.

"Masks on!" ordered Shadow as he strapped the black oxygen mask over his mouth. A hose attached to the mask led to a small tank behind the parachute pack. The rest of the team began doing the same as Shadow called over his radio. "Okay Murray, we're ready back here." A shrill alarm announced that the ramp was lowering. Mutt felt a tug as the ramp lowered but the harness kept him in place. Soon, the pressure in the cabin was stabilized and the operators stood up and approached the ramp. Shadow took the lead and looked back at his teammates. "Check yourselves!" he screamed over the radio. Everyone began looking over their gear and one by one they each signaled okay. When Shadow gave the thumbs up, Mutt stared at the red light. He was behind Bear and Ute, yet he still anticipated the signal. Finally, the green light was illuminated and the operators began moving for the edge of the ramp. Mutt watched as the other two were sucked gracefully into the night. He felt Shadow's hand slap him on the back and then there was a loud noise sounding like waves at the beach. Below him he could see the lights of Mogilev getting closer. He glanced at his altimeter on his HUD to make sure he didn't pull his parachute too low. He saw a parachute open below him followed by a second, Ute and Bear were safe for now. Suddenly, Mutt's altimeter began flashing red. He pulled a cord, which opened and brought Mutt to a sudden halt. He slowly glided down to the ground and looked around for his teammates. When Mutt landed, he quickly took off the parachute pack, raised his weapon, and scanned the area. He heard the grass rustle near him, causing him to aim around looking for the disturbance.

"Flash." Bear whispered

"Thunder." answered Mutt as Bear approached the operator from the left. He kneeled beside Mutt and raised his DMR.

"Is your night vision working?" Bear asked.

"Let me check." responded Mutt as he reached up to the back of his helmet and pressed a small button. His HUD then took on a green tint, lighting up the world around him. He spotted two people around 30 yards away. Bear noticed the rookie's goggles had a green glow around the edges.

"I'll take that as a yes. Twitch messed something up on mine. Maybe the wiring." complained Bear as he continued to press his helmet's button.

"Twitch doesn't mess up." Mutt retorted as he continued to watch the two figures. "I think I found Ute and Shadow." He got onto his radio. "Ute, Shadow I think I have visual on you guys."

Shadow responded "Yeah, I see you and Bear. We are moving over to you guys." The two figures began to walk over to Bear and Mutt. When they arrived, Shadow glanced at his comrades. "You guys alright?" he asked.

"Night vision isn't working, Boss." Bear replied. Shadow gave Bear a quick slap to the back of the head, causing Bear to wince. "What the fuck? Ow!" Bear yelled in protest. His goggles finally flickered on.

"Better?" asked Shadow sarcastically.

"Go fuck yourself." responded Bear. Shadow pulled out a map from his pack and laid it flat on the ground for everyone to see. Mutt instantly recognized the town of Mogilev and the surrounding areas.

"Okay, judging from the surroundings I think we landed southwest of the October District. We are right about right here." Shadow explained as he pointed to a grassy area of the map. The last transmission 'Taurus' sent out was located here." he pointed to another area on the map in the October District. "We are not too far from it. That's the good news. Bad news is our exfil is on the other side of the Lieninski District."

"So?" asked Ute.

"So we have to go through the city, which recently fell into Communist hands. Also, we are not the only ones looking for this guy. Russian and Chinese forces patrol the city looking for him and when they see us as well they won't be happy at all." responded Shadow. "Now let's get moving. ROE is to only engage when being engaged. We don't want to alert anyone." He folded the map and put it back in his pack. When the group reached the city limits, they had to deactivate their night vision because of the street lights. Signs had been posted everywhere explaining a curfew had been emplaced on the city, explaining why the streets were so empty. As they approached the last known position of 'Taurus', Mutt began to feel a little uneasy about the situation. They had run into no guards or any resistance at all. The building they approached appeared to be a bakery with a second floor apartment. Shadow tried to open the door but found it had been locked. He reached down and began to pick the lock, but stopped when a noise was heard. The team prepared for resistance and almost opened fire when an alarm sounded. But they calmed down as they watched two teenagers carrying bags of stolen groceries being chased by a guard wielding a nightstick.

"Xiǎotōu! Zǔzhǐ tāmen!" yelled the guard as he chased the teens.

"Great, gotta deal with the fucking Chinese." cursed Mutt under his breath. Shadow quickly shushed as he resumed the lock picking. Soon after, he opened the door slowly and turned on his night vision since there were no lights on in the store. The rest of the team followed suit. The stairs creaked under the operators' footsteps as they reached the apartment door. They could see under the door a very faint light. Shadow slowly opened the door and glanced around inside. Suddenly, Shadow was hit on the top of the helmet by a blunt metal object.

"What the shit?" yelled Shadow. Bear aimed at the assailant, but the assailant quickly threw up his hands.

"Are you Americans?" he asked in a thick European accent.

Shadow straightened up before responding. "Yes we are. Are you the informant known as Taurus?"

"I am." responded Taurus as he put the cooking pan down. "But, I have to say you people are fools for coming tonight."

Bear began to question him. "Why's that?"

"They knew you were coming. Someone tipped them off from inside your command structure." replied Taurus. As if planned, spotlights began to illuminate the building. Shadow took cover by a nearby window.

"Grab your stuff now. We are getting you out of here." ordered Shadow as the others took defensive positions. Taurus complied, ran into another room, and began grabbing papers.

"Měiguó rén! Kuài xiàlái, hépíng tóuxiáng, wǒmen bù huì shānghài nǐ de! Wǒmen yǒu nǐ bāowéi. Méiyǒu yuèyù!" yelled a soldier over a loudspeaker.

Shadow looked over to the others "You guys ready?"

Bear responded for everyone. "Hell yeah, boss."

**Author's note: I did not anticipate "Chronicles of Zulu" to be as promising as it is now. I will try my best to get chapters out quickly. But being in school means schoolwork comes first. I would also like to announce I'm planning a second book which will follow an operator in the Spetznaz during the same time period. I am more than willing to take suggestions. If you have any questions, send me a message or put it into my forum. Thank you.**


	10. Ambush

**Chapter 10- Ambush**

"Xiànzài tóuxiáng, wǒ de rén bù huì kāihuǒ!" yelled the Chinese officer over his bullhorn as the clicks of loaded rifles were heard. Taurus ran over to the team as Shadow formed a plan.

"How the hell are you planning to get out of here? They have us surrounded." asked Taurus as he held a suitcase against him. Shadow tapped Bear on the shoulder.

"I got it. Follow me lead." Shadow said as he crawled over to a door and opened it. The door led down to the basement. Shadow went down and looked around. Bear began to smile when he realized Shadow's plan. He crawled into the kitchen and grabbed a magazine. Bear rolled the magazine, and then began to look for any source of heat. The first item he found was a toaster, he proceeded to insert the rolled up magazine into the toaster, and waited for Shadow's signal. Shadow finally found what he was looking for, the gas line. He quickly pulled out his knife and cut the line, which made a soft hissing noise as the gas escaped. He quietly walked up the stairs and signaled to Bear, who started the toaster. Smoke began to rise from it as he sneaked away.

"Gotta get you out of here." said Shadow as the others sneaked out.

"What's going on?" asked Taurus hesitantly as he held the suitcase close to his body.

"We're going to make it seem like we all died in an explosion." Shadow explained. Taurus' eyes got wide as Shadow got him to his feet and guided him downstairs. The team already was waiting outside and had their weapons raised.

"It's gonna be a big blast, so we need to get to a safe distance." said Bear as the team began to move away from the building. Suddenly, a huge explosion rocked the city and a large inferno erupted from the apartment. The Chinese soldiers were confused but instantly were dodging burning debris. This was enough of a distraction that it allowed Zulu and Taurus to sneak into a back alley. They kept quiet as they heard soldiers nearby.

"Tāmen shì sǐle ma?" asked a soldier.

"Méiyǒu rén nénggòu shēngcún xiàqù zhèyàng de bàozhà." responded a second soldier. Shadow peered around the corner and found the two soldiers on guard along with a third soldier.

"Zhù zài zhèlǐ, zhídào wǒmen quèrèn tāmen de sǐwáng." ordered the third soldier as he walked away leaving the two guards. Shadow motioned for the team to move up slowly, which they did until they reached Shadow. He then peeked around the corner aiming his rifle until he had one of the guards in his crosshairs. Ute picked the other guard as his target.

"Shoot on three. One…Two…Three." Shadow whispered before two clicks were heard. Both guards fell limp and hit the ground with a dull thump. Bear and Mutt sneaked out and grabbed the bodies dragging them into the alley. Shadow peered around the corner one more time to make sure the coast was clear. As Mutt dragged one of the guard's bodies, he noticed the soldier was carrying a pistol. He reached down, took it, and tossed it to Taurus.

"You might need this." Mutt advised Taurus. Taurus fumbled the pistol as he tried to hold the suitcase and catch the pistol. He was finally able to control the pistol. He inspected the pistol before responding.

"Thank you American." Taurus added. The group moved up past a few guards, but they realized most of the Chinese patrols were going through the wreckage of the apartment. Shadow knew they would soon realize they had been tricked and search for the group furiously. He knew they had to move quickly or they would be found. He began to pick up the pace down the alley but found themselves running into a dead end.

"Damn. It looks like we are hitting the main road." Shadow complained as he began to move out of the alley, but he came to a sudden stop after he heard an ominous, mechanical growling.

"Is that a tank?" asked Bear as Shadow slowly peered around the corner. He saw a Russian tank surrounded by three soldiers.

"T-120, three light infantry units" Shadow responded as he retracted back into cover. "There's no way we are taking out that tank."

"Can we move past it?" continued Ute.

"Possibly" answered the leader as he glanced back at the obstacle. "But we will have to go one by one." He came back into cover. "Ute I want you to go first, stay low." Ute moved up but Shadow held him back with an arm. "Wait for my signal." he ordered as he glanced around the corner watching the three guards inspect the tank. "Go." he dropped his arm and let Ute move. Ute crouched and scurried around the corner. He opened the door on the other side, entered the building, and got on his radio once the coast was clear.

"Okay, send another." announced Ute as Bear approached Shadow.

Shadow waited for a little bit before giving the order. "Go." Bear followed Ute's footsteps and attracted no attention.

"All good, boss." reported Bear.

"Mutt, you're gonna take Taurus with you. Understood?" asked Shadow looking back at the rookie as Mutt moved up. He peeked around the corner and watched the guards. "And…go." Mutt took Taurus by the arm and guided him around the corner into the building.

"You're turn, Shadow." alerted Mutt. Shadow peered around the corner before moving. He heard a snap underneath his feet, causing Shadow to jump for the door. Bear and Mutt dragged him in.

"Chto eto bylo?" asked one of the Russians

"Chto vy govorite?" asked another one of the Russians.

"Sushchestvoval chto-to dvizhetsya tuda." responded the first Russian. Suddenly two flashlights clicked on and began to move for the door. "Mikca, ostat'sya s tankom. Igor' i ya budu proverit' eto." He ordered to the third soldier.

"Ponyal, serzhant." responded a soldier who sounded extremely young.

"Okay. On my signal." ordered Shadow as he held his rifle just above the window. The soldiers approaching could not see the group since they did not have their flashlights aimed at the window. As Shadow let loose his shot, the rest of the team followed. Both of the approaching soldiers fell dead under a hail of bullets, their uniforms freshly stained with blood. The third soldier tried to grab his rifle from the tank, but Mutt fired a round through his chest, wounding him and causing him to slump against the tank. His blood splattered on the front of the tank as the tanker popped out holding an SMG. He was instantly killed by Shadow with a bullet through the head. He fell limp and his head slammed against the front of the tank. The group walked over to the wounded soldier, who at the moment was still reaching for his AK and having difficulty breathing. He finally was able to grab his weapon but before he could aim, Shadow knocked his weapon away. Blood was steadily dripping from his lip. Shadow looked at the soldier and noticed he barely looked a day over eighteen years old.

"Pozhaluysta. Pokazat' milost'. Ya ne khochu umirat'." begged the soldier as he reached out to Shadow, who quickly pulled out his knife and ended the soldier's life with a thrust into his neck. The soldier's hand rested on Shadow's shoulder as he exhaled his last breath and rested his head against the tank. Shadow pulled the knife from the soldier's neck and wiped the blade on his sleeve. He placed the knife back in its holder.

"We got to keep moving to the exfil before the Commies find us." Shadow explained. Suddenly, dogs barking were heard along with Russians and Chinese screaming orders. The team began to run down the street toward the exfil site. The team's radio came to life.

"This is Oscar 2-6, what's your guy's position?" asked Murray.

"Less than half a klick, but we are being chased by enemy forces." responded Shadow as he turned around to check on the others. He looked up and saw Murray's Pelican fly overhead.

"I'm going to go ahead and land. I'll be waiting for you guys." added Murray. About ten minutes later, the team reached the site and found the Pelican waiting with its ramp down and Murray waving them on. In the blink of the eye, tracers lit up the area around them and began hitting the Pelican, causing Murray to duck in terror. The team began returning fire and shielding Taurus from the enemy fire. They finally began loading, but Ute got tripped up on a branch and fell over. He reached for his weapon and rolled over but found a Chinese soldier wielding a knife already above him. But before the soldier could deliver a blow, a shot rang out and the soldier rolled off of Ute. Bear quickly grabbed Ute and dragged him into the cabin. Shadow turned around to find that Taurus had fired the shot, but he turned his attention to Murray.

"Get us the fuck out of here, Murray!" he yelled at the pilot.

"Gladly." responded Murray as the Pelican raised and accelerated into the night's sky with its precious cargo intact.

**Author's Note: I can confirm a second book in what will now be a trilogy. It will be titled "The Red Rifles" and you should expect the first chapter within the next couple of weeks. I will be working of "Zulu" and "Rifles" at the same time, so be patient if a chapter for either of these stories does not come out every few days. Once again, thank you for everything and if you have any questions or concerns, send me an email to goldmonkjohn .**


	11. Escalation

**Chapter 11- Escalation **

The Pelican landed on the flight deck of the Houston and as the ramp lowered, Zulu was greeted by the General.

"The Communists have taken Miami." Collins informed the team. All four members had shocked looks on their faces. Their fear that the Communists would attack home had come true. "Follow me." Collins turned around and headed for the command tower. The team followed right behind him up to the command tower. When they entered, they saw a holographic image of Miami.

"How the hell did the Russians get there so fast and still defend Rio?" asked Ute. Collins quickly responded.

"Two fleets. One went to Rio, the other attacked Miami." responded Collins. Shadow took off his helmet and put it under his arm.

"So we're going back in the field?" Shadow questioned Collins. The general responded simply by nodding.

"But the 1st MEU, two Force Recon teams, and Texas Team will be assisting you." explained Collins as he walked over to the map. "Now according to reports, the Russians have begun to reinforce several positions around the city. One of the largest is held up in this building," a skyscraper became illuminated "and on Dodge Island." a small plot of land also lit up. "The 259th Air Squadron will try and clear out Dodge, but it's gonna be difficult. Now get ready, you guys are leaving in 30 minutes." Collins ordered the team as the holographic map disappeared. The team saluted and when the General left, they turned around and headed to their rooms. They had to get changed quickly into their armor and get on the transportation. As Mutt was changing into his armor, he heard the door open. He turned around and found Fox standing in his doorway. She was wearing her Air Assault armor and had two tomahawks at her hip.

"Heard you guys are going to be joining us in Miami." she said. Mutt put his chest plate on before responding.

"Yeah, just finished in the field and I have to go right back in." he sighed as he grabbed his helmet.

"Well, we are taking Pels over to the Titan. Delta's going to be invading amphibiously with the Marines." explained Fox. Mutt looked up as he put the helmet on.

"Can't believe I'm about to invade my home country." he said as he grabbed his rifle and walked out of the room. The flight deck was busy with Marines loading into Pelicans and several Pelicans began taking off with their payload. Fox split away from Mutt as he walked to Shadow at another Pelican. Eventually, the other two arrived and they loaded the Pelican with the Marines. They strapped in and waited for the pilot to take off. The ramp began to rise and the Pelican began its long journey to the Titan. Mutt lowered his head slowly and closed his eyes. The world went black and when he came to the sky had taken on a burnt orange color. Shadow was standing over him holding a DMR.

"Wake up, Mutt. Invasion doesn't start until tomorrow." Shadow said as he offered his hand to the operator. Mutt took his offer and Shadow pulled him onto his feet. "We just gotta find some quarters." Mutt looked out on the flight deck at the Marines running around, suddenly having a strange feeling. Shadow gave Mutt a concerned look.

"Yeah, let's go." said Mutt as he walked down the ramp. Shadow gently grabbed his shoulder.

"You alright, rook? You look really stressed." asked Shadow as Mutt turned around.

Mutt lowered his head "Yeah, I guess. I'm just nervous."

"We all are, dude. But we are gonna get through this. All of us." said Shadow as he held Mutt's shoulders. "Now, get some rest. I can't have you falling asleep on the beaches." Mutt walked away as Shadow continued to watch the Marines prepare. He knew tomorrow was gonna be rough. According to the latest reports, Russians had already prepared for the invasion by setting up several nests on Miami Beach. He thought beach landings became obsolete due to history. Hadn't generals learned from Gallipoli, D-Day, Guadalcanal, or even more recently, the landings on Nampho and Kosong? He shook his head as he thought of the countless lives that would be lost tomorrow. He looked at the men and women around him as if writing a casualty report. From the intel he had heard about the Russian's positions, he could guess one out of every five or six Marines landing on Miami Beach would be either killed or wounded before the first day was over. The thought sent a shiver down his spine, which he quickly tried to shake off. He quickly prayed for the safety of everyone and made his way down to his quarters. He sat down on his bed and took off his helmet. He then saw something he rarely looked at. He had inscribed a date and message into his helmet. He was about to read it off when there was a knock at his door. Quickly, he put away his helmet and looked up to find Bear.

"What's going on, Bear?" asked Shadow. Bear had also taken off his armor and was wearing his multi cam pants with a tan t-shirt.

"Is it true the four of us are landing in different crafts?" asked Bear. Shadow nodded in response.

"Command doesn't want an entire Delta team taken out by a lucky artillery round." he said to Bear. Bear crossed his arms as if in protest of being separated.

"What time do we set off?" continued Bear.

Shadow answered quickly "Around 0500, we are going in on the second wave." Bear nodded in agreement. "Any other questions?" Bear shook his head and left the room. Shadow grabbed his helmet, looked at the inscription, and smiled. He began taking his armor but he knew tonight would be a sleepless night. Mutt was woken up by the sound of feet moving past his door, his door opened and Ute stood there in the doorway.

"C'mon, rookie. Get dressed." ordered Ute as Mutt quickly jumped out of bed and hurried to put on his armor. He grabbed his DMR and moved toward the loading bay with several Marines. Inside the loading bay were several armored landing crafts ready for deployment. He noticed several of the landing crafts were already launching. He finally found an officer holding a tablet directing Marines toward their designated area. Mutt approached him.

"Name?" asked the officer.

"Mutt." he responded. The officer flipped through the tablet until he found Mutt's name.

"Landing Craft 28." said the officer directing Mutt to the left. Mutt walked down the aisle looking for his number until he reached Landing Craft 28 near the end. Several Marines were already ready to board the behemoth. A couple of more Marines arrived and an alarm began to sound.

"Begin to board your crafts, we are launching in five." ordered an officer over the loud speaker. The doors to the craft opened and the Marines began to pile in. Mutt noticed space was tight and he squeezed in beside a few devil dogs. When the doors closed, a few lights flickered on showering the hold with a dim light. The sergeant at the front of the group turned around and grinned.

"Alright, boys. Let's show these Ruskie sons'abitches why you don't fuck with the United States Marine Corps." he said in a gritty, southern accent. "OORAH!"

The Marines inside responded with a loud "OORAH" and began banging their rifles against the floor, making an even louder clanging noise. A sudden bump was felt letting everyone inside know their craft was underway. The engine of the craft roared and echoed inside the cabin, making all conversation impossible. A second, harder bump was felt, they were in the water and on their way. Mutt held his rifle as tight as he could, staring at the two small doors. He knew when those doors opened, all hell would break loose.


	12. Fun in the Sun

**Chapter 12-Fun in the Sun**

Beaches, Mutt hated beaches. He felt as if he was sinking deeper and deeper each time he took a step. His armor felt even heavier as he took a step off the landing craft onto the porous sand into a hail of machinegun fire. Several of the Marines he landed with fell dead under the bullets but even more kept moving. Bullets whizzed by him and pinged against the metal of the barrier and landing craft. Mutt had landed with the second wave which landed about 10 minutes after the first. The bodies still littered the beach as the first wave continued to move into the city. Instantly, Mutt began looking around for his teammates. Zulu and Texas were all on different landing craft in order to reduce the risk of them being hit and losing an entire team. Also, Mutt knew two Force Recon teams, Bulldog and Razorback, so he began scanning the radio looking for any clues of the whereabouts. At the moment all he received was statuses on the units moving up the MacArthur Causeway, which was taking fire from Russians dug in on Dodge Island. He quickly moved up and moved around to different wounded Marines trying to assist until he heard a familiar voice over the radio.

"Zulu, what's your status? Over." called Shadow over the radio. The team quickly responded.

"This is Ute. I'm up and moving."

"I'm good. Just a little pinned down down." said Bear.

Mutt got on his radio. "I'm moving up, looking for you guys."

"Meet at the South Shore Center." commanded Shadow. "I'm a few blocks away."

"Sounds good. Let's go, boys!" yelled Bear. Mutt quickly took off with the Marines toward the street. A Marine in front of Mutt was shot in the shoulder and tripped. Quickly, he was picked up by his squadmate and moved into cover. When the others reached the street, a whizzing noise was heard. Mutt instantly recognized and warned the Marines.

"Bouncing Betty!" screamed Mutt as loud as he could as he jumped into cover. He saw the unmistakable circular mine hovering in the air between two Marines as if in slow motion. They stared at the mine before it went off milliseconds later. Chunks and blood were sent flying covering soldiers. Mutt now looked down at his blood-stained armor and visor. He tried to wipe the blood off his visor, but it merely smeared into a bloody mess. He got up and grabbed his DMR and surveyed the scene. The other Marines had taken cover while the remains of the two unlucky Marines lie in the street. One of the Marines got up. "Keep moving! Echo needs help!"

The Marines let out a hearty battle cry of "OORAH!" as they ran down the street to help their comrades in arms. Mutt on the other hand kept moving toward the rendezvous point hoping to meet up with the rest of his team. As he scanned the area, he could hear gunfire from the firefights on the Causeway. Finally he had the community center in sight, which looked torn apart and abandoned, and he ran toward the entrance. When he entered the building, Mutt slowly began to scan the lobby until he heard cold metal clink against his helmet. The noise startled him and caused him to make a quick turn aiming his DMR at his assailant. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found Shadow instead of a Russian or Cuban. "Don't do that again, boss." sighed Mutt.

"Can't be too sure." responded Shadow. He holstered his pistol, "How did the Marines do?"

"They got off the beach." answered Mutt "Commies laid some traps, but they made it through and are reinforcing the Causeway."

Shadow nodded "Good, Dodge Island is overrun with Russians and they are pounding the Marines hard." He took off his helmet, revealing his sweating face and messy blond hair. "We have to get into the city if we want to push them out."

Mutt kneeled and rested his rifle on a wall. "Isn't the 1st ID coming down from Benning?"

Shadow responded as he sat down against a wall holding his DMR. "Yeah, reports say they moved through Tallahassee thirty minutes ago. Did you hear from Bear or Ute?" Mutt responded by shaking his head. Suddenly a rustle was heard outside, both operators lifted their DMRs aiming at the door. A voice sounded from outside the doorway. "Anyone home?" asked Bear.

"Speak of the devil. Get in here, Bear." answered Shadow. Bear and Ute both entered the lobby, but Bear threw off his helmet and tossed it onto a dusty couch.

"Shit's real out there." Bear protested.

"We waiting on the Recons?" questioned Ute.

"Yeah." said Shadow as he nodded. "Hopefully they should be here soon". Bear walked around the lobby adjusting his radio wire until three Spartans wearing Recon armor walked into the building.

"You guys Zulu Team?" asked one of the Spartans with an almost raspy voice. Shadow stood up and offered his hand.

"Yeah, Shadow." he responded. The Marine shook Shadow's hand with a firm grip.

"Staff Sergeant Conrad, Razorback Team." the Staff Sergeant pointed back to the other two. "Sergeants Willis and Ordway." Both Marines nodded as Shadow turned around to introduce his team.

"This is the rest of Zulu." he went through the roster pointing at the operators. "Bear, Mutt, and Ute." When each of the operators was introduced they simply nodded. Shadow then looked back at Conrad. "So you guys wanna help the boys on MacArthur?"

Conrad raised his DMR "We have to check if Bulldog linked up with Texas." responded Conrad. He then got on his radio. "Bulldog 1, have you met up with Texas Team?" Another Marine quickly responded.

"Razorback, we linked up with Texas at Talmudic University. We are about to move up to the Tuttle Causeway."

"Sounds good, Bulldog." Conrad got off his radio. "You guys ready?" Shadow and Bear grabbed their helmets and put them on and all of them grabbed their weapons.

"Lead the way, Conrad." said Shadow as he nodded. The Recons exited the building followed by the Deltas. The gunfire had actually increased, letting Mutt know the second wave had reached the Causeway. As they exited, they noticed a corpsman dragging a corpse missing the lower half of its body away from the fighting. Conrad walked over to the corpsman and grabbed him.

"Get in the fight, Marine. This one is dead." ordered Conrad as he tried to drag the Marine off the body. Mutt then saw the corpsman's face and saw tears coming out of his eyes.

"No, I can't leave him. He's not dead." sobbed the Marine. "I won't leave you, I promised." Finally, Conrad was able to pull him away from the body. The corpsman continued to reach for the dead comrade and screamed in protest.

"There are others who need you more than him!" Conrad tried to reason with the crazed Marine. Finally, he quit resisting and lowered his head. He began walking back to the firefight. Mutt walked over to the corpse and looked at his nametag. It read "S. Walker" and Mutt began to suspect something.

He looked up at Conrad. "What was that corspman's name?" Conrad looked at the body.

"I don't know, his tag was covered with blood." responded the sergeant. Ordway kneeled beside Mutt.

"Why do you ask?" she asked the operator. Shadow suddenly realized what Mutt was feeling and he got a knot in his stomach.

"I think I know why he was dragging only one body away." responded Shadow. "But I'm not sure."

"We gotta find that corpsman." Mutt told Conrad.

"There's no time. We need to help the others at McArthur." retorted Conrad. The group began moving toward the pinned down Marines. By the end of the day, the Marines were able to retake Dodge Island but it was at a heavy cost. Over 720 Marines were killed on the first day of fighting. The Russian and Cuban totals are still unknown, but estimated between 800-1,000. During the night, there was very little fighting apart from a few shots taken by snipers on an unlucky soldier or Marine who was wandering around at night. Mutt had his position set up for the night near Zulu's camp. As he scanned the streets, he noticed something sticking out of a pile of rubble. When he took a closer look, he saw it was a hand. He checked to make sure the area was clear before moving over to the hand. He began to move rubble and when he got to the bottom, he was shocked at his find. The corpsman from earlier had been killed underneath the rubble, probably suffocation. His face suggested he did not die peacefully, so Mutt paid his respects and closed the dead's eyes. Mutt the noticed Conrad was right, his name tag was covered with blood. Mutt spit into his right hand and began to wipe off the blood. The blood had dried, making it hard for Mutt to clean it. After a couple of tries, he was able to clean the tag. He gasped out of shock when he saw the name on the tag, it read "D. Walker".

"Brothers. They were brothers." Mutt said to himself. Unfortunately, Mutt realized he could not move the body tonight because it would draw too much attention. He quietly snuck away back to the camp and found Shadow still awake.

"We lost too many today, for so little ground." remorse Shadow. Mutt sat beside him and grabbed a bowl of stew.

"The corpsman was dragging his dead brother." Mutt sighed. Shadow looked up at the night sky.

"I will tell you a secret of mine when the time is right. But now is not that time." said Shadow as he got up and looked down at the operator. "Get some sleep, you're gonna need it."

Mutt laughed softly. "You always say that." He lied down on a thin mattress and closed his eyes. He wondered what Shadow's secret was. He hoped he lived long enough to hear it. But he then began to wonder if he would survive the night, or the next day, or the battle, or even the war. This thought worried Mutt so much he could not shut his eyes out of sheer fear. But then he thought of someone and slowly closed his eyes, if Wolf was safe then he was happy. The thoughts of surviving were replaced by thoughts of seeing her again. Slowly, he began to fall into a slumber. But the next week would offer nothing but absolute hell.


	13. Seventh Circle

**Chapter 13- Seventh Circle**

Mutt was awakened by Shadow violently shaking him. Mutt was startled by the sudden assault by his teammate. He heard nothing at the moment, but he tried to focus on his surroundings. Finally, his hearing came back and he could hear what Shadow was desperately trying to tell him.

"Wake up, man! The Russians are bombarding our positions! We have to move up!" yelled Shadow as he grabbed his and Mutt's helmets. He tossed the proper helmet to Mutt, who for a second out of shock fumbled with the helmet. When he finally got a grip on it, he put it on and activated his HUD. While the HUD loaded, he grabbed his DMR and slapped a magazine in. He began running through the early morning mist in the direction Shadow directed him in, until he realized he had forgotten something. He turned around and headed for his sniping position. When he reached it, he grabbed his S99 and strapped it to his back. He looked for the body, but it was missing. Mutt quickly took off but he kept wondering where the body had gone. He found Zulu in cover behind a stone wall with Razorback Team and several Marines. Mutt sneaked over to the group and sat down beside Shadow. Shadow glanced at the rookie.

"What did you need?" questioned Shadow as members of the group began peeking over the wall. Mutt took a deep breath before answering.

"I needed my sniper rifle. Also, the body is missing." responded Mutt as he inspected his rifle.

"Looters probably." Shadow said in disgust. Suddenly, one of the Marines took a large round to the chest, knocking him back and causing a large blood splatter and a hole in his chest.

"Shit! Sniper, get down!" ordered Conrad as another round came in and hit near a Marine causing dirt to fly into the air. A sergeant tapped another Marine beside him on the shoulder.

"Hilton, take him out!" yelled the sergeant. The Marine nodded and rested his SR78 on the wall in order to stabilize the rifle. But as he got his measurements, a second shot rang out. The left side of the Marine's head vaporized as the rifle dropped to the ground. The dead Marine went limp and fell back. His blood was splattered on a few men to his left, all began to try and wipe it off. Mutt barely peeked out to try and get bearings.

"Okay, this one's good." said Mutt in amazement. Shadow began to nod as Mutt turned around to the Marines. "Anyone want to volunteer a helmet?" The marines looked at each other until one marine passed his helmet down the line. Mutt took the helmet and put it on the end of a stick. He began to poke it over the wall and it was blasted away instantly. Shadow listened to the shot for Mutt.

"That sounds like a Levinov R-50, which means…" informed Shadow, but Mutt completed the sentence for him.

"We're dealing with Spetznaz." interrupted Mutt as he grabbed his S99 from his back and locked the bipod in place. "Mind providing a distraction?" he asked as he gently placed the bipod on the wall and used a small plant to hide the barrel of the gun. Ute moved next to Mutt ready to move to the next cover.

"Don't get me killed." Ute said as he prepared.

"Okay, and go." ordered Mutt. Ute sprinted out of cover as another shot from the sniper sounded. Mutt saw a flash coming from near the top of a building that was quite a distance away. He lined up his rifle and looked through the scope. He found several soldiers running around inside preparing defensive positions. He found the sniper he was looking for, but he had to warn the Marines of the other Russians. "Got defensive positions being set up near the top floor of the building bearing…" he paused for a second to pull out his compass and read it "094 degrees." Conrad and the sergeant pulled out their compasses and got the measurement. Mutt looked down the scope aiming at the sniper.

"Take the shot, Mutt." ordered Shadow. Mutt put his finger on the trigger and began to apply pressure. He held his breath as he applied the final pound of pressure. The shot rang out from his S99 as the bullet was sent downrange. He tracked the bullet and watched it collide with the sniper's head. The sniper went limp and was no longer a threat. Mutt moved back into cover with everyone else.

"Sniper's down. I don't know what to do about the others." informed Mutt.

"We have the 259th in the rear." Conrad reminded the team. Shadow instantly got on the radio but looked over to Conrad.

"What's their callsign?" asked Shadow as he reached for his Laser Designator hooked onto the back of his armor.

"It's Omega 4-1-5" responded Willis as he peeked out to look at the building.

Shadow looked through the scope as he began to talk to the Wing Leader. "Omega 4-1-5, this is Zulu 1. I need a payload on a designated target."

A Marine pilot responded over the radio "Send the coordinates, Zulu."

Shadow aimed the designator at the building "Coordinates are Echo Hotel 105988."

"Copy those coordinates, Zulu. Three Longswords are inbound. ETA forty-five seconds." Shadow got back behind the wall.

"Hold your dicks, boys. That building's going down." ordered Shadow uneasily as he put his left hand on the top of his helmet. Two jets could be heard closing in and as they got closer, a few machine guns in the building opened fire on the Longswords. But their fire was useless against the armor of the Longswords as they dropped their payload of four 1000 pound bombs. All four hit their mark around the base of the building. The explosion sent debris flying high into the air. A concussion wave hit the team as even more dirt was sent flying onto the group. Mutt's armor had already been caked with salt water, sand, dirt, and blood. They poked their heads above the wall to survey the damage. The base of the building had been severely damaged, but the rest of it remained unscathed. A third Longsword flew in and was met with the same ineffective defense as it dropped its payload with a direct hit about 10 floors below the Russians. "Good hit Omega." informed Shadow.

A horrible creaking noise was heard as the large building began to tilt forward. With the assurance that most of the enemies had been taken out or were trying to run to the nearest exit, Shadow and the group moved out of cover. Mutt glanced up at the building and saw a gaping crater near the top floor caused by the bomb. He also saw several small fires starting in the building, and they were spreading.

"We have to move up toward the arena. That's where Texas and Razorback are." ordered Conrad.

Willis began to protest. "That puts us pretty close to the building we just hit."

"If it falls we are at a safe enough distance, it won't hit us." Shadow explained. Mutt listened to the gunfire of nearby fights as they continued to move up. Texas and Razorback had set up a position in front of the arena along with three squads of Marines. They were going to try and push up Biscayne Avenue and eliminate Russian and Cuban positions. But with the building being unstable, it was going to be a very delicate operation. A loud explosion echoed through the area, causing the group to stop in their tracks. A fireball erupted from several of the windows and then a large cloud of smoke rose into the already grey sky.

"That sounded like a gas line exploding." worriedly said Bear.

"Just means that we have to move quickly." explained Shadow as he stepped over an uprooted palm tree. Mutt looked around him at all the destroyed cars which littered the street. He noticed one car still had the charred remains of its owner sitting in the driver's seat. As they approached the arena, the building continued to creak but refused to collapse. There was also no sign of its Communist defenders. Two Marines took point as they approached the position in the parking lot of the arena. Sandbags had been piled high where a M247HG had been set up and was currently manned by Havoc, Texas Team's heavy gunner. He wore the Grenadier armor variant but had cut off the sleeves showing the two, intricate tribal tattoo sleeves he had. No one else from Texas Team was in sight. Havoc watched the group approach and got off the gun.

"Did you call in that airstrike?" asked Havoc in a deep, western accent as he pointed up at the building.

"Yeah. Yeah we did." Shadow answered as he shouldered his DMR.

"The debris almost killed us. I nearly got nailed on the head by a block of stone." Havoc protested as Shadow held out his hand which Havoc grabbed and dragged Shadow close. "How are you, bro?"

"Apart from being shot at by a sniper, we're okay." said Shadow as Havoc gave the same greeting to the others in Zulu. The Marines took positions behind the sandbags. Havoc backed up and looked at Zulu.

"Just to let you know. The rest of the group took a squad of Marines to Bayfront Park." explained Havoc, he was about to speak again when an eerie noise.

"The building's collapsing!" yelled Ordway as the scratching sound got louder as the building fell forward.

"Find some cover!" ordered Shadow out of fear. The building began to crush the buildings as it collapsed. Marines and soldiers alike began jumping over the sandbags and ducking, hoping it would be enough to hold back whatever debris was coming their way. When the building finally landed, it made a deafening crash and sent debris flying everywhere. A dust cloud blew over and covered the group, they were blinded. Several beams began piercing the sandbags while blocks of stone knocked over some of the barriers. When the chaos finally ended, the cloud hung over the area and kept their visibility low.

"Everyone okay?" asked Conrad as he peeked over the sandbags. Sand was still pouring out at a steady rate from the holes created by the beams. Marines began to stand up and look at the mess.

Ute looked over to Shadow. "What's the next move, boss?" Shadow reached down and picked up his DMR. He then glanced at the rest of the team before responding.

"Simple. We find the bodies and we link up with Texas." he responded as he chambered a round.


	14. The Tables Turn

**Chapter 14- The Table Turns**

The Marines pushed forward through the cloud, using any cloth they had to cover their noses and mouths. They could barely see in front of them, which worried them. But Shadow was not concerned, because he knew the Russians were just as blind. Suddenly, his attention was drawn somewhere other than what was in front of him.

"I think I found one!" yelled a Marine. Shadow followed the voice to find a Marine standing over an enemy soldier with his foot on the enemy's chest. The soldier was wounded and weak as he tried to lift the Marine's foot off his chest. "He's pretty fucked up though." he explained as Shadow approached. He looked at the soldier's uniform and overall appearance. This one's not Russian, thought Shadow. His uniform was tan and brown digital design and a Cuban flag on the right sleeve. The soldier held out his hand to Shadow as if begging him for mercy. But Shadow pulled out his sidearm and fired a round through the Cuban's skull. The Marine jumped back in surprise. He looked over at Shadow in fear and disgust.

"Sir, we could have gotten info out of him." protested the shocked Marine. Shadow holstered his pistol before looking at the grunt.

"No, he was Cuban. He wouldn't know much." responded Shadow coldly. The Marine shook his head and continued through the cloud. There was extremely little resistance through the cloud apart from the occasional Russian or Cuban who was down to his last magazine of their pistol, but no Spetznaz. When they exited the cloud, the group found the patrol sent out earlier waiting at the entrance of Bayfront Park. The other three members of Texas Team were right at the front of the group waiting for their comrades. Miller was the team leader of Texas and he wore the Commando armor variant and carried the MA37. Diablo was the marksman and wore the JFO armor variant and as a joke had put a piece of tape on the back of his helmet with his name written on it, explaining it would be easier for them to identify his body. At the moment he was holding his S99 in his right hand.

"Its 'bout time you guys showed your faces." joked Fox as she put her hands on her waist. The operators began to greet each other before discussing their situation.

"So what's going on? Any sign of Spetz?" asked Shadow.

"The only interesting thing to happen is that building collapsing." explained Miller as he motioned to the rubble. "Did you guys call that airstrike in?" he then asked Shadow.

Shadow chuckled before responding "Yeah. Got a problem with that?"

"You could've warned us first." answered Miller sarcastically. Shadow placed his DMR against a wall as he looked around.

"You guys got a plan?" asked Shadow as he took off his helmet and put it under his left arm.

"Kind of." returned Miller as he pulled out a small silver disk and placed it on a park bench. He then pressed a button and a blue holographic map appeared. "We were thinking about moving up 3rd Street, but that route is cut off by that rubble."

Shadow took a closer look at the map. "What about Flagler Avenue? If we take that route, we can take the bridge across and move toward the ballpark."

Miller crossed his arms as he contemplated the plan. "Problem is MI suggests that bridge might be rigged."

Shadow put his helmet on "When was the last time MI got something 100 percent right?" he complained as he grabbed his DMR.

Miller simply shook his head. "WILCO. But if this OP goes south, we are FUBAR." Shadow nodded and the turned to the Marines.

"Conrad, take your Marines and move up 1st Street. Regroup once we get across the bridges. Got it?" Shadow asked the Recon Marine.

Conrad nodded as he raised his BR85. "Will do. You Delta boys stay safe." The group then split up and went their ways. Gunfire could be echoing through the city as small firefights raged on. Suddenly, a shot from an AK rang out and a bullet whistled past Fox.

"Contact! Find cover!" screamed Miller as everyone jumped for cover behind abandoned cars.

"Anyone got eyes on?" asked Shadow loudly. Mutt peeked around the bumper of the car and saw several muzzle flashes coming from the preforming center. He was forced back into cover by heavy fire.

"Looks like we got shooters in the preforming center. Return fire?" asked Mutt. Shadow nodded as he peeked from cover and returned fire from his DMR. The rest of the group followed Shadow's lead and were able to suppress the enemy fire within a couple of minutes. Slowly, they began moving out of cover and their radios came to life with Sgt. Willis' voice.

"Zulu Actual, this is Bulldog 3. We ran into a patrol with an IFV. Gonna be held a little. How copy?" reported Willis.

"Solid copy. We are a few blocks from the bridge. We'll meet you on the other end." responded Shadow calmly.

"WILCO." were Willis' last words before the team continued. They reached the bridge and were surprised to find no resistance.

"Looks like their fighting the Marines to the North." said Diablo as the operators scanned the area.

"Don't like this, boss. It spells ambush." worried Ute as he moved to the side of the street. An ominous beep was then heard. Shadow didn't need to warn anyone since they were already diving for safety. The large explosion sent Mutt flying into a car. His vision blurred and his ears were ringing from the explosion. He got to his hands and knees, trying to look around and account for everyone. His hearing was the first to return and he heard Shadow coughing heavily as he got closer.

"Mutt? Mutt, you okay brother?" asked Shadow as Mutt felt his hand on his left shoulder. His vision came back into focus as he looked up at a concerned Shadow. Shadow's armor was now heavily dented and the left side of his visor had a large crack. Bear walked over to the two and looked down at Mutt.

"You're a tough fucker." Bear joked as he offered his hand to Mutt, who took it and was pulled onto his feet. Bear's armor was surprisingly unscathed apart from a couple of dents and scratches. "Ute!" Mutt then heard a scream of pain over to his right. When he looked to investigate, he found Diablo lying on the ground grasping his right arm. But, Mutt found Diablo's arm had been broken badly.

"¡Hijos de puta! You broke my arm!" screamed Diablo in anger. "Voy a matar a todos!"

"Chill out, D." advised Fox as she kneeled beside Diablo. Her armor had sustained heavy damage as well, plus the left upper hand corner of her visor was missing. Miller and Havoc joined the battered group and looked at the damage.

"Fox, take D to the med station on the beach and then get your ass back to us. Bring reinforcements if you can." ordered Miller.

"WILCO." responded Fox as she gently picked Diablo up. Diablo continued to scream in agony as Fox carried him away from the wreckage. Miller turned around to the rest of the group.

"That shit was not dope. Fuck that bridge." complained Miller. Bear continued to scan the region.

"Any of you seen Ute?" asked Bear. As he asked the question, Ute stumbled out from behind a car.

"How bad does it look guys?" weakly asked Ute as he grabbed a piece of shrapnel imbedded into his chest plate. Bear panicked and pulled out his knife to pry out the piece of metal. Ute's armor was severely burned. Bear was panicking as he fumbled with his knife, but Ute reassured him by placing his hands on Bear's shoulders. "Dude, chill out. I'm fine."

Bear let out a breath of relief before sheathing his knife. Then everyone turned to Shadow and Miller for a plan.

"That bridge is useless." said Shadow as he got on his radio. "Conrad, our bridge is gone. We are going to work our way to you and cross."

"Copy that, Shadow. We will be waiting for you." responded Conrad. Shadow nodded to the group as they made their way over to the Marines. Mutt felt that things were now in Russia's favor. But the 1st Infantry was about to change that.


	15. Hunters

**Chapter 15- Hunters**

The Marines on the bridge had been pinned down by a couple of P-39s, which was the Russian equivalent of an M247. Shadow saw several Marines had already been killed or badly wounded. They were trying to take cover behind abandoned cars, but they were still being torn apart by the machine guns. Shadow slid in next to a Recon, but did not recognize him.

"Where's Conrad?" screamed Shadow, trying to be louder than the gunfire and explosions. The Marine turned to respond to Shadow's question.

"He took a group of Marines to pursue the IFV. I'm Sgt. Rose, Bulldog Team." responded the Marine as he offered to hand to Shadow. But in a rare moment, Shadow denied it.

"Let's do formal introductions later. Now, what's the Sitrep?" continued to ask Shadow.

"Those two P-39s are still ripping us apart. We take out the gunner and someone else just replaces him instantly. Also, know you're not gonna like this, we think there are a few more Spetz running around the area. After we take care of these positions, we are going hunting." explained Rose as he reloaded his rifle. A round ricocheted off the hood of the truck, which caused the operators to duck for a moment. But when they regained their composure, they returned a volley of hot lead which took out of one of the gunners, but he was quickly replaced by another soldier.

"We gotta put something larger downrange. Any of you got a 40 mike-mike?" asked Shadow. Rose looked at his men before responding.

"No. Maybe we can get some air support." said Rose as Shadow got on his radio.

"Omega 4-1-5, this is Zulu 1. We need some support, over." Shadow said over the radio. The response he got was not the one he wanted.

"Zulu 1, Omega 4-1-5 is off station for refuel and rearm. We will be out of the fight for 15 minutes." responded the wing leader.

"Are there any other Longswords available?" asked Shadow with a touch of panic in his voice.

"Boxer 3-6-1 is up north providing support, but they are about to go off station as well. There is a Hornet squadron near you waiting for a job." answered the pilot. "I'm going to transfer you. Callsign is Easter 8-6."

"Good, do it quick. We are running out of time." said Shadow as the pilot began to call for support.

"Easter 8-6, this is Omega 4-1-5. Requesting permission to send a request. Over." asked the Longsword pilot. The radio started to come to life.

"Easter 8-6 accepts, send it." answered a deep voice on the other side of the radio.

"I've got a Delta operator in need of some air support. Longswords would be handling it, but we are tied up." calmly said Omega.

"What's their situation?" asked Easter just as calmly.

"Don't know, didn't ask. I was gonna transfer the call. His sign is Zulu 1." said Omega before he transferred the radio call.

"Zulu 1, this is Easter 8-6. What's the situation?" asked the Hornet pilot.

Shadow began to yell over the gunfire "I got two P-39s firing at us. We try taking out the gunners but they are replacing them instantly. We are running out of cover pretty quickly."

"Copy that. Easter is on its way, ETA 5 minutes." responded Easter 8-6 as he ended the transmission. Shadow looked over to Rose who was currently firing his Battle Rifle in three-round bursts. "The Hornets are on their way."

Rose went back into cover before asking an essential question. "How long?"

"About five minutes or so." responded Shadow as he reloaded his DMR and peeked around the corner.

"You sure we got that long?" questioned Rose as he popped back out from cover to continue firing.

"It's worth a shot. At least we'll die fighting." responded Shadow as the sounds of jet engines were heard approaching.

"Hornets inbound!" screamed Mutt as four Hornets were seen approaching low.

"Mark the target, Zulu 1." ordered Easter as they began their pass. Shadow pulled out his Laser Designator and pointed it at the target building and pulled the trigger. He was waiting for Easter's response before ducking back into the safety of cover. "Targets marked, going in for pass firing GUA-23s" Shadow quickly fell back into cover beside Sgt. Rose. Suddenly, the buzz of 6 Heavy Autocannons firing was heard as Easter opened fire on the target building. Shells began to fall and hit the operators and Marines making loud pings. Mutt grimaced and covered his head as the hot casings fell on him.

"Shitshitshitshitshit!" yelled Bear as he took cover from the enemy fire and shells. Mutt knew how much a freshly ejected shell burned if it got down your armor, and it was almost impossible to get out.

"Missiles off the rack." said one of the pilots as two missiles hissed toward the building. When it made contact, the explosion sent even more debris into the stale air and rained down on the Marines, covering their uniforms with even more filth. When the dust cleared, Shadow and Miller stood up to inspect the damage. The machine guns had been destroyed and Shadow was pretty sure whatever enemies that were inside had been killed.

"Easter, thanks for the assist." Shadow said over his radio. The Marines began standing up one by one and looked at the surroundings.

"Anytime Zulu, good hunting." Easter responded as the three Hornets flew away. The Marines began to celebrate as Rose turned to Shadow and Miller.

"Command wants your teams to go hunting for any Spetz that would be near the wreckage of the building." ordered Rose as Shadow took off his helmet to wipe away the sweat.

"What about the Marines?" questioned Shadow. Rose was quick to respond.

"We keep pushing forward. Conrad is…" answered the sergeant before being cut off by a loud explosion followed by a cloud of smoke rising a few blocks away. "Correction, has dealt with the IFV and plans to keep moving up. You guys need to just protect our rear from any Spetz that might still be alive."

"WILCO." responded Shadow as he gathered his team and Miller did the same with Texas. "Ok, Spetz season just opened and we are going hunting. Command thinks a few somehow survived that building collapsing."

"Seriously?" protested Bear. "I watched that thing fall and I can tell you nothing could've survived that."

"Well Command wants us to make sure nothing survived. Now let's go." sternly responded Shadow as everyone began to grab their gear.

"Fuckin' WILCO." answered Ute as he loaded a fresh magazine. When the group reached the rubble they notice several bodies they had missed before, including two Spetznaz corpses.

"So that's two of them. How many more we got?" asked Bear.

"Five more, Spetz travel in teams of seven." answered Shadow, but Mutt stepped in to correct him.

"Actually we should only have four more because I killed the sniper." Mutt argued. Shadow tilted his head a little to the right.

"Yeah, so only four more operators. Now, what would the others be doing?" pondered Shadow as he looked around at the buildings.

"Probably, hiding and waiting for some poor sucker to come along." answered Ute as he aimed around. Shadow looked over at what appeared to be a museum.

"Let's check in here." said Shadow as he walked toward the building followed by the rest of Zulu with Mutt in the rear. When they entered they found two separate doors, each leading to different exhibits. "We have to split up. I'll take Bear to the right, Mutt and Ute take the left."

"WILCO." responded Mutt as he went through his corresponding door followed by Ute. The area Shadow entered was dimly lit but he could see the exhibits contained what appeared to be relics of the Civil War. He glanced around looking for anything that resembled the enemy. Suddenly the sound of glass breaking was heard causing him and Bear to duck. They raised their rifles and looked around them but saw no sign of any enemies. Shadow got on his radio.

"You guys hear that?" he asked quietly not to draw any attention.

"Yeah and I know what caused it. Samurai Mutt over here found something he likes." responded Ute.

"Goddamnit Mutt." complained Shadow under his breath as he relaxed and lowered his rifle. "Try to warn us next time Sticky Fingers sees something that catches his eye."

Ute nodded "Will do." He looked back at Mutt. "Try and warn me next time you decide to break into an exhibit." Mutt was strapping the katana that he had recently stolen to his back.

"What? I saw it, no one was guarding it, and I took it." Mutt responded as he shrugged his shoulders. "Plus it might come in handy." Ute shook his head as he pulled out his karambit and inspected the area. Suddenly, soft footsteps were heard. Ute quickly turned around to face Mutt, who was already gripping the katana's handle in his right hand. More footsteps were heard and Ute turned in the direction he heard them coming from.

"Get ready, dude." Ute warned Mutt. Mutt unsheathed his katana as the footsteps got louder. Ute then turned around and found himself staring at a Spetznaz operator charging at him with a Bowie knife. Reacting quickly, Ute swung his karambit and made contact with the Russian's neck. The enemy stopped dead in his tracks and his arms drooped, causing the knife to fall out of his hands. Ute finished the Russian off with a quick jerk and tore his windpipe out. Blood splattered on Ute's armor and the display cases, as the unlucky soldier dropped to his knees and fell face first into the carpet. "Boss, one of the Russians is dead."

"Copy that. Now where are the others?" asked Shadow. That question was soon answered by the ominous sound of the security gates closing. Mutt knew the other Russians were waiting for them and he knew the fighting was going to be bloody and up-close.

**Author's Note: Sorry that I have not been updating as often as I should be. I have been in the middle of schoolwork, personal life, and the occasional writer's block. I want to give you guys the best I can offer with this trilogy. That is why I'm going to delay "The Red Rifles" and "Armageddon" (Only the pending title for the third book) until I finish "Chronicles of Zulu". Once again, thank you to all the loyal readers and followers who have read my writing since the beginning. If you guys have any questions remember to email me at goldmonkjohn or add me on Skype: goldmonk3. I love to keep in touch with my readers. Keep reading guys. –GoldMonk **


	16. For Country

**Chapter 16- For Country**

"Three more, boys." called out Shadow as Mutt tightened his grip on the katana. The museum's PA system came to life suddenly.

"Zomrieš, Američanov. Budete zahynúť v mojich rukách." yelled a Spetznaz. Ute relaxed and looked around in confusion.

"Boss, wasn't that Slovak?" asked Ute in confusion. "I thought the Slavs were on our side."

Shadow answered over the radio, "No, the Serbs are on our side. Poď von a bojovať proti nám, zbabelec!" The sound of footsteps got closer causing Mutt and Ute to turn around. A second operator was now charging at them and had already brought his fist back to hit Ute. But Ute was able to get out of the way before the enemy was able to strike him as Mutt raised his sword. But when Mutt struck his opponent, the sword simply bounced off the armor with a loud clang. Mutt was knocked off balance from the sudden shock, which the Russian took advantage of by delivering a vicious kick to the center of his chest. Mutt went flying back into a display, shattering the glass casing as Ute stood up and attacked the opponent with his knife. But once again, the operator was able to block the attack and respond by putting a left hook into Ute's ribs and then a devastating right hook into the side of his face, sending Ute stumbling into a wall.

"The blade didn't even scratch his armor." complained Mutt as he stood up.

"That blade is almost 2,000 years old, bro. I think it lost its edge." responded Ute as Mutt sheathed the katana. Mutt then charged at the Russian and nailed the enemy with a hard hitting right to the neck, knocking the hostile operator slightly off balance. But he was quickly able to regain his balance and retaliate with an elbow to Mutt's stomach. He stumbled a little before regaining his balance and putting his guard up to his face, but the operator was already on top of him and trying to land hits, which Mutt was blocking. Ute finally got to his feet and went to join the fight. He put his right foot into the middle of the attacker's back, causing the Russian to stumble forward into Mutt. The sniper found an opportunity and took advantage of it. He wrapped his arms around the waist of his attacker and grunted as he lifted the Russian up. He then slammed the Russian down, got up quickly, and landed several blows to the enemy's head before he was pushed away. Ute was able to catch his comrade and both prepared for a counter-attack, but were surprised when the found their enemy bending over with a small string of blood coming out from under the edge of the helmet. Ute pulled his leg back and delivered a devastating blow to the visor of the Russian's helmet, shattering it and knocking the enemy back into a display. The enemy took off his helmet and revealed a heavily beat up face including a broken and bloody nose. But he had short blond hair, and the one eye which wasn't swollen was green. Ute walked over to the Russian and picked him up by the collar.

"Otkazhites' i my vam ne povredit." stated Ute, but the Russian began to laugh. Ute looked at him confused until a huge bump was heard on the other side of the wall. Ute and Mutt looked back to check on the noise, which gave the Russian just enough time to retaliate. He grabbed the vase behind him and struck Ute in the head. The vase shattered into several pieces as Ute released his grip and dropped the enemy. The assailant dropped down and quickly retaliated by sweep kicking Ute's legs. The American hit the floor with a loud thud, but before the Russian could do any further damage Mutt charged in and lowered his shoulder into the enemy's chest. The Russian slid to a stop before reacting to Mutt's attack. He responded by swinging his right hand into Mutt's face, but Mutt easily blocked it and retaliated with an uppercut to the Russian's face. As the Russian stumbled back, Ute got to a knee and tried to get contact with either Bear or Shadow.

"Did any of you guys hear that?" asked Ute as he stood up. Shadow responded after a few seconds.

"Yeah, Bear tried to throw our friend here through the wall. How are you guys doing?" responded Shadow as he ducked underneath an attempted right hook from his opponent.

"Fine. Mutt and I have this guy under control. I'll make contact again when we deal with this guy." Ute stated before Bear landed a devastating blow to the Russian's face send him tumbling back into a display, knocking it over. As the opposing operator stood up, Shadow landed a kick right on the operator's left elbow. A loud and ugly crunch sounded as Shadow followed through and watched the enemy's left arm fall limp. Before Shadow could land a knockout blow, the tip of a blade pierced the wall and dripped blood from its tip. Shadow panicked and quickly got on the radio.

"Ute? Mutt?" he screamed in fear. Ute was quick to reassure his leader.

"We're fine, boss. The Russian on the other hand…Mutt found a use for his katana." Ute said sounding somewhat afraid. Mutt had found a weak point in the Russian's armor around the center of the chest and had pinned him to the wall. The enemy was wide-eyed out of shock, breathing heavy, and grasping the blade. Mutt then turned the blade clockwise, making the wound larger and guaranteeing the kill. The Russian coughed up even more blood, splattering it onto the blade, floor and Mutt's armor. Mutt placed his right foot near the blade and pushed the dying operator off the blade. Falling to his knees, the man tried to cover the wound with his hands, but blood continued to gush out. Mutt and Ute noticed the face of the Russian getting dangerously pale. The Russian began to shake feverishly as he glanced up at the two men who had defeated him and opened his mouth to speak.

"For…..my….country..." said the Russian weakly as he fell face first into a small puddle of his own blood. On the other side, the final Russian screamed out of rage and quickly charged at Shadow. But the American was quick to respond, stepped out of the way and was able to put his knee into the freshly enraged Russian's gut. Two more snaps were heard, letting Shadow know he had broken a couple of ribs with that blow, along with a bad cough from the Russian. Shadow was able to catch a glance of a new blood stain on the inside of the enemy's visor before pushing the operator back. The Russian held his recently broken arm and tried to regain his balance. Once again, he charged at the Americans and just like before, Shadow was too fast for him. Shadow swept the injured Russians legs out causing the operator to fall on his face. He grunted in pain as he slammed face first into the floor and struggled to get up. Before he could get up, Bear was over him and had lifted his right leg, bringing it down on the enemy's lower back. The final blow had been dealt as an even louder crack was heard. The Russian screamed out in pain and grabbed at the carpet, pulling himself away from Bear. But he noticed something was not right.

"Pochemu ya ne mogu poshevelit' nogami?" screamed the Russian out of panic as Bear picked him up and slammed him against a wall. Bear was about to deal a death blow until Shadow came up with an idea.

"Bear, wait." ordered Shadow. Bear looked back at him confused. "We might be able to use him for intel." Bear looked back at the Russian and took him off the wall as Ute and Mutt walked into the room. "Now we just have to get out of here."

Ute interrupted "If you could get me to the security room, I can open the security gate." Shadow nodded as the team moved through the museum while Bear dragged the Russian like a doll. While they moved through the sections of the museum, they kept a look out for the final operator, but he was nowhere to be found. Shadow even went to the extent of asking the captured Russian where the last of his teammates were, but he remained silent. When they reached the control room, Ute found the terminal had been hacked.

"This…is gonna take some time." sighed Ute as he got to work. Shadow walked out of the room and got on his radio to contact the Marines.

"Hey Rose. We got two of the last three Spetz were still looking for the last one." explained Shadow.

Rose responded within a few seconds. "Okay. We linked up with Conrad and his squad. Also, don't worry about the last one. She's already dead, wasn't pretty either. We think she burned to death in the building because we found her stuck on a beam and burned to a crisp. What's your current situation?"

Shadow continued to pace in front of the prisoner. "Trapped in a museum, a couple of Spetz were waiting for us but there dealt with them."

"Sounds good, the 1st ID's pushing up and the Russians are on their last leg, so…" But Rose was cut out by sudden gunfire. The last thing heard on the radio before it cut out was a cry for a corpsman and Shadow instantly recognized the voice. Willis was either hit or calling for help.

"Get that fucking door open quick, Eli!" screamed Shadow as he glared at Ute. Instantly, Ute knew something was wrong. Shadow only called his teammates by their real names if they were either on leave or if something was extremely FUBAR, and he wasn't in California. Quickly, he raced to get the controls back.

"Door's ready." said Ute as the gate was lifted and Bear took position by the door. But Shadow wasted no time and lowered his shoulder. He hit the door with enough force to knock it off its hinges. The rest of the team followed panicking because Shadow was acting out of rage. Mutt felt bad as he and Bear scooped up the Russian prisoner, someone important was hurt and Shadow knew it. Who else would they lose today?


End file.
